


The Forgotten

by Strawberrywaltz



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Duo is a good Bro, Empathy, F/M, Heero has a new mission, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Post-Series, Quatre Raberba's Uchuu no Kokoro | Space Heart, Quatre and Heero's mysterious connection, Slow Burn, Temporary Amnesia, Temporary Character Death, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2018-12-10 06:52:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11686344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawberrywaltz/pseuds/Strawberrywaltz
Summary: The entire universe thinks that Quatre Winner is dead, but when Heero starts having strange black outs he begins to realize the rumors of Quatre's death might not be true.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This show was my childhood. I loved it. Recently I bought the box set and watched through the series with giddy joy. I love it. I read through pretty much every Quatre fic I could find and decided that I'd try my hand at writing a story of my own. 
> 
> This is my first Gundam Wing story. I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Not betaed, so sorry for any mistakes!

Chapter 1

The chain around his ankle was uncomfortably heavy. There was no ignoring it. Quatre couldn’t hide from the hell he’d fallen into. There was no escape from his reality. 

“Play.” His captor demanded from the chair by the window. The window let in the light from the outside world, a world Quatre could no longer reach. He could barely catch a glimpse of the outside world and when he did manage to steal a glance the only thing he could see was the sky. Some days Quatre felt like he was a bird in a cage. Some days Quatre tried to convince himself he was anything else. Some days Quatre felt so depressed he couldn’t bring himself to think of anything at all. It was either too exhausting or too sad. 

“My heart isn’t in it.” Quatre dared to speak out. Sometimes he felt good to rebel, of course, that ‘good’ feeling typically didn’t last long. His captor made sure Quatre knew his place. 

“I didn’t buy you for your heart.” The cruel man said. “Play.” 

Quatre allowed himself a moment’s hesitation before he placed the bow against the strings and once more started to play. The song was slow and painfully sorrowful – it matched Quatre’s mood. 

It had been his sisters who had betrayed him in the end. He hadn’t been told if it had been all of them or just a handful, but Quatre supposed it didn’t matter. He had been betrayed in the cruelest of ways. 

His sisters had secretly disagreed with the direction Quatre wanted to take his father’s company after the war. They plotted to get rid of him for months without any real warning. Quatre had been blinded by his love for them, his family. He’d ignored his empathic abilities when he felt something was off, thinking it was PTSD inspired paranoia. 

Quatre still wasn’t clear how it had happened. One minute he had been in a car being driven to a meeting and the next he had woken up here, chained to a wall in this room. 

“Such a good pet.” His self-proclaimed owner said smoothly as he stood gracefully from his chair. Quatre’s hand faltered as the man stepped closer to him. His heart pounded double time in his chest as he stopped playing and looked up into the man’s dark eyes. The man’s hand reached out, his knuckles brushing with mock gentleness over Quatre’s pale skin. “I enjoy seeing that fire in your eyes.” He said with a feral curl of his lips. “I’d enjoy it more if you submitted yourself to me willingly.” 

“Despite what you mistakenly think, I am not your property.” Quatre told him firmly. His captor lashed out then, the sound of the slap rang loudly in the small space. The sting burned across Quatre’s pale cheek and Quatre knew it would likely leave a bruise, another one to add to his growing collection. “Hitting me won’t solidify your claim on me.” Quatre said as he straightened his back and tipping up his chin defiantly. A strike of fear shot through him as he realized how much pain might come from his act of rebellion, but in the moment Quatre couldn’t bring himself to care. “I am not yours. I will never be. Even if I die here in this place, by your hands, I will still be my own man.” 

“ A man.” The man scoffed. “To me you will always be that seventeen year old boy who ruined my plans. I didn’t see you for what you were, then, but I know better now. I’m glad I didn’t realize your potential in the past, because if I had you’d be dead and I wouldn’t get to enjoy you like I do now. My rivalry with your father was nothing compared to what you put me through. Your ideals of peace and justice spread like a cancer after the war. It is because of you that I suffered. Your sole purpose in the remainder of your pathetic existence is to bring me pleasure. You were only part of the package I arranged with your sisters. You are mine. Bought and paid for. Accept it, there is no one in the universe who can save you.” 

“The others will come for me.” Quatre said with more confidence than he felt. He had never said that out loud before – he’d never allowed himself to dwell on the fact that the others should have already come for him. His friends – the other four pilots. Did they even care that he’d gone missing?” 

“They think you are dead.” His captor dismissed with a sharp laugh. “The whole universe thinks you died in a terrible, fiery crash. Your funeral was truly beautiful. Your sisters particularly put on a good show. I suppose it doesn’t hurt to tell you, your death is now considered a holiday. It’s rather moving, but the point is, no one is coming for you. You are mine, even if you haven’t accepted it yet. You will. I have all the time in the world to convince you of your new place in the universe. Yes, you are mine and I will keep you in this room until I decide that you are no longer worth the trouble. Your friends aren’t coming for you, pet, they aren’t even looking.” 

Quatre’s heart stopped in his chest as he froze. The man had to be lying, but no, Quatre could feel it, the terrible truth. “No.” He whispered brokenly, no longer able to keep eye contact with the devil in front of him. 

“Yes.” The older man said gently. “Now that you know you can accept me for what I am to you now. I am your Master.” 

“No.” Quatre blinked and glared as he turned and set the instrument on the bed. “I will not accept anything. If they all believe I’m dead, that’s fine. I’ll escape – I promise you. You will never make me submit to you willingly.” 

“I’m a patient man.” His owner said, but took a few steps back to give Quatre space. “Eventually you will come to love me.” 

“No.” Quatre denied as he watched the man start to leave the room from the corner of his eye. 

“I’ll return soon, pet.” The man said as he opened the door and left the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Quatre stared for a moment before he turned his glare to the cuff around his ankle. He sat on the ground and brought it up to investigate it again. He’d done this countless times since the beginning of his captivity. The cuff was unfortunately well made, which was a given when it came to who his captor was. The man was OZ and although OZ had it’s weak points, they did tend to make rather impressive gear to keep their prisoners in place. 

Swallowing thickly Quatre felt along the ring of metal and noted, once again, that there was no obvious way to open it. There was no lock to pick or mechanism to play with or wires to cut – just metal that was unyielding. 

Perhaps if Quatre were like Heero he could bend the links of metal that attached him to the wall, but Quatre had never possessed superhuman strength. 

He did, however, have an ability that seemed otherworldly. His space heart. His empathy. Quatre thought, eyes widening as he considered the new possibility. His connection with Heero was something he’d never really thought about after the war had ended. Or really when the war was going on, if he were honest with himself. 

Heero. Could it be so easy? Quatre leaned his back against the side of the bed and closed his eyes. No, it wouldn’t be easy, he realized as he tried to concentrate in a way he had never allowed himself before. All his life he had tried to maintain a healthy control over his empathic abilities, afraid that if he allowed himself to feel too much that he’d be driven insane. 

Insanity was lurking in the shadows and the longer he remained trapped the closer it would get. If Quatre could find away to mentally communicate with Heero, well, it was the only hope he had left. 

Sweat beaded on Quatre’s forehead as he focused harder and deeper, he expanded himself in a way he’d never tried to before. He felt disconnected from his body as he floated in space. Cold. Quatre shivered but desperately continued his search. 

__

“Think fast!” Duo shouted across the basketball court. Heero had already seen what his teammate was planning and moved to intercept the ball from the air with calculated precision. Once the ball was in his hand he casually tossed it over his opponent’s head to where Duo had dashed to, ready to score another two points for their team. Once the orange ball made it through the hoop, Heero glanced back at a grinning Duo. The former Gundam pilot’s hair was shorter, but still braided in his typical fashion. A bandage was across his nose from some scuffle he’d had on a Preventers mission a few days before. 

“I don’t even know why we bother.” One of the men on the opposing team grumbled as they made their way back to their side of the court. 

“Same time next week?” Duo asked mockingly as he slung his arm over Heero’s shoulder. Heero smirked a little as the two of them walked towards their own stuff. “Too bad Wufei couldn’t join us today, but he and Trowa have been busy lately.” 

Heero nodded. This was the first time he’d managed to see one of the other pilot’s since Quatre’s funeral. They had all been there to honor their fallen friend. The funeral itself had been surprisingly hard to get through and Heero had to admit the only reason he’d been able to stay was the silent support of his comrades. None of them had been ready to say goodbye to Quatre. It still didn’t feel real, at least not to Heero. Of course that could be the denial that Relena claimed he was sitting in. 

“How’s Relena doing?” Duo asked before he squirted a stream of water into his mouth from his water bottle. 

Heero narrowed his eyes, but knew deep down that Duo was only asking because he was truly concerned. “She’s sad, but she tries to hide it. She thinks I’m not coping properly.” 

“You?” Duo asked with a wink. The good-humor died fast. “I still can’t believe he’s really gone. A car accident.” Duo shook his head. “What a stupid way to go.” 

“I doubt he had a choice in the matter.” Heero pointed out and took a small drink from his own bottle of water. After the war it had been difficult for the five pilots to be together. Typically one or two of them managed to meet up at a time. Anytime Heero had heard from Quatre he had managed to sneak away for a meal or a game like this one. Duo, Heero and Quatre had grown closer after the war. Wufei and Trowa, especially now that Quatre was gone, had become distant. 

“Yeah.” Duo agreed as he shoved his water bottle back into the bag he’d brought to the park. 

“Relena tried to talk with his sisters a few weeks back,” Heero said casually. “None of them seemed very willing to – ” Heero froze, a chill flooded through his body as his eyes widened and black dots started to take over his vision. He groaned and heard Duo’s voice echo in his ears as he tipped to the side. Strong, familiar hands stopped his sudden decent into darkness. 

He wasn’t conscious anymore, Heero realized as he swayed in the dark. He wasn’t awake, he corrected as his eyes opened and he gasped. He was in space. Panicked he realized he wasn’t wearing a suit or any other kind of protection. He was dying – he was, no. Wait.

“Heero.” A weak voice called from the star-speckled darkness. Lights, he realized. Colored stars in the distance. Colonies maybe. “Heero.” His name whispered again. The voice sounded strained, but familiar. 

“Who’s there?” Heero demanded, his voice cold and waiting for his enemy to emerge. 

“Can you feel me?” The voice asked weakly. 

“Feel you?” Heero echoed, confused and a little more than disturbed. The only person he’d ever been able to feel was dead. “Quatre.” He said the name and the pain of his friend’s death rolled through him in a way that he’d never allowed himself to feel during the funeral or after. He felt tears burn in his eyes as he fought the emotion. He grabbed his ears with his hands and pressed them against his head. “Stop.” He said quietly. “STOP IT!” He shouted and bolted forward, back into daylight and away from the strange space he had been drifted in. Heero panted as he tried to regain the careful control he had mastered over the years. 

“Heero?” Duo’s panicked voice broke through Heero’s revere. “You – you’re crying. Are you okay? Of course your not, I mean, I’ll call an ambulance.” 

“No.” Heero grabbed Duo before he could go after his phone. “I don’t need a hospital.” Heero shook his head and glanced into the eyes of his worried friend. “I just – need some water.” He groaned and stood up. His head rushed for a moment, the world around him spinning in a nauseating way. He reached out blindly until his hand found Duo’s shoulder and held on for support. 

“Are you sure?” Duo asked cautiously as he gently gripped Heero’s elbow. “You look kind of pasty.” 

“I’m good.” Heero deflected and forced his eyes open and the world to settle. He blinked and reached down to snatch his water bottle from the ground. Heero took a couple calming sips as he stared up at the trees above them. The world felt righted, but his emotions were a whirlwind inside of his heart and mind. He felt like sobbing his lungs out and had no clue why. 

Perhaps Relena was right. Maybe he hadn’t fully grieved for Quatre. 

“Heero, you’re freaking me out, man.” Duo broke the tentative silence with his normal loud tendencies. “You passed out cold and now you look like your either going to pass out or burst into tears.” 

The burn behind his eyes hadn’t gone away. With a shaky sigh Heero reached up and wiped at his eyes to brush the droplets of saltwater away. “I – I’m fine.” Heero insisted, but he knew he wasn’t. Something was wrong, but he wasn’t sure what. The pull he was feeling started to fade a little more. The whirlwind of emotions he was suffering started to die down. Whatever had happened seemed to be ending. Finally the last of it blew away with the gentle breeze of the springtime day. 

“Heero.” Duo repeated his name more firmly. “Seriously, what just happened?” 

Eyes finally dry, Heero looked at Duo. “I don’t know.” He admitted. “I felt…Quatre.” He admitted as he finally realized what he had been feeling. 

“Quatre?” Duo repeated flatly. “Dude. That’s so not funny. Why would you even try and joke about something like that? He was my best friend! Hell, he was yours too.” 

“I’m not joking.” Heero narrowed his eyes. “When I was unconscious I was – I was in space. I heard his voice. He asked if I could feel him and I did. I can’t explain it any better than that. It happened. I don’t understand it anymore than you do.” 

“You felt Quatre?” Duo repeated, this time a little more in awe. “Was he – was he happy?” 

Heero felt the lingering coldness brush against his heart again and closed his eyes. He couldn’t lie to Duo now, not after what he’d just felt. “No. He wasn’t.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Quatre woke hours later sprawled next to the bed. He felt heavy and weak. His body was drenched in lingering sweat and his mouth was unbearably dry. Quatre lay there for an undetermined amount of time, too exhausted to count the minutes before he finally attempted to move. His body ached so badly that he barely managed to twitch his fingers before he gave up. Quatre was left panting for his failed efforts. 

The exhaustion dimmed the pure joy he felt when he realized he had been successful in reaching out to Heero. The excitement dimmed when he remembered Heero screaming and his heart clenched tightly in his chest. He prayed that Heero would be able to forgive him for the pain. He prayed that Heero would realize what he was trying to convey. 

It was obvious to Quatre that he would need to try to reach out to Heero again. Other than being able to transfer his emotions and a few, weak and quiet words, Quatre hadn’t managed to inform Heero of his dire situation, or anything else useful. As far as experiments went, Quatre supposed he had been mostly successful. Now that he knew he could communicate with Heero he needed to prepare for his next attempt. 

First Quatre needed to try and stop the experience from harming Heero. The worst thing Quatre could imagine was his ability somehow destroying Heero’s mind. Whether the fear was valid or not, Quatre wanted to be careful not to damage Heero. Heero was a dear friend first and foremost. Quatre wouldn’t put his life above Heero’s, not even if it meant forgoing his freedom. 

Secondly Quatre needed to figure out how to convince Heero that he was alive and that he needed help. Judging by the time it took to connect with Heero and how little Quatre had been able to say, this would be the hardest challenge. Projecting his own emotions into Heero had been relatively simple and unfortunately very difficult to control. Perhaps Quatre could use that, but it would be unfair to subject Heero to Quatre’s own turmoil again if he could help it. 

No. Quatre needed to come up with a short, but reasonably clear explanation of what had happened. 

Quatre’s eyelids slid closed as he considered what the message should be. He had a nagging fear that this was all in vain. That Roman was right. His captor’s words echoed in his ears as he fought to stay awake. No one in the universe was going to save him. No one cared. 

No. Quatre forced his eyes opened. He’d felt Heero’s own sorrow over his supposed death. Heero and the other pilots would come for him, if he could manage to convince Heero that he was still alive and in trouble. 

He just needed to convince Heero…when he recovered…

Unable to fight the exhaustion any longer, Quatre fell back into the waiting arms of darkness. 

__

“You don’t have to follow me.” Heero grumbled over his shoulder at Duo as they walked down the street. 

“Dude, you passed out.” Duo said pointedly. “Someone needs to make sure you don’t have a secret concussion or something.” 

“I’m fine.” Heero said shortly. 

“You were communicating with the dead.” Duo raised an eyebrow when Heero glanced back at him. “That is so far from fine I can’t even tell you where it is. Fine, you are not, my friend.” 

“I didn’t tell you about Quatre so that you would hover.” Heero glared as he turned down the street where his current apartment building was waiting. He rented a few places both on Earth and several of the colonies that Relena frequented. He still acted as her bodyguard, but he had also trained the rest of her security staff, so he didn’t always feel the need to be by her side. 

After the war Relena and Heero had attempted what people might call a ‘relationship’ of sorts, but they both quickly discovered that they were more compatible as friends and allies, not lovers. They were coworkers, working to keep the peace they’d all fought for during the war. 

Ever since Quatre’s untimely death, Heero wondered if he shouldn’t have tried to protect their strategist a little better. It was unfair to think of Quatre as weak. The blonde, although smaller than the other Gundam Pilots, was just as strong, if not stronger. His endurance and resilience had been a surprise to them all. Still, Heero felt responsible for Quatre’s death in a way that never made sense to him. 

“Hey!” Duo broke through his thoughts as they stood in front of Heero’s apartment door. Heero frowned, not aware that they had entered the building, let alone traveled up five floors to his door. “Are you sure you don’t want to go see a doctor?” 

Heero glanced at Duo, glared, and fumbled for his keys. “I told you, I’m fine.” He insisted in a flat voice. He slipped the little brass key he’d located in his pocket into the lock and twisted the door open. Duo pushed in first, without being invited in. 

“This place is creepily sterile.” Duo muttered under his breath as he headed towards the kitchen. Heero watched as he tossed his bag onto the couch and moved towards his laptop still sitting at the table in the ‘kitchen’ area. 

With one last glance at Duo raiding his refrigerator, Heero pulled up the files the Preventers had sent him of the scene of Quatre’s death. He hadn’t looked at them since before the funeral and didn’t remember seeing anything out of the normal. It had been hard to view, the first time, perhaps he’d missed something letting his emotions get in the way. 

“You still have the pictures?” Duo asked, suddenly hovering over Heero’s shoulder, soda can in hand. 

Heero grunted his response and started to look at the images of the car Quatre’s body had supposedly burned up in. 

“Heero.” Duo said, suddenly and sobering serious. Heero glanced back at his friend and locked their gazes. “Are you – do you think Quatre’s alive?” 

“I don’t believe in ghosts.” Heero told his companion bluntly. “If there were ghosts I doubt they’d leave me alone. The people I’ve killed, the people you’ve killed. They’d never let us live in peace. I don’t believe in ghosts – so what the hell happened to me at the park? Duo. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I do know that Quatre had a unique ability.” 

“He’s empathy.” Duo nodded. “He told me about it once, but what does that have to do with anything?” 

“There was a strange connection between us.” Heero admitted. “He told me about it after we escaped together. He said it was how he managed to stop Zero’s hold over me. He projected his emotions into me and forced me to stop fighting. He said he would never do it again and that he was sorry.” Heero closed his eyes. “I never told him that I was grateful he had saved me. If Quatre hadn’t stopped me I’m not sure what would have been left of Earth or space.” 

Duo’s eyes widened. “He controlled you? With his mind.” He looked away. “Wow, that’s heavy. So, you think that wherever Quatre is, he’s trying to control you?” 

“No.” Heero shook his head. “I think he was trying to ask me for help.” 

“This is insane!” Duo yells so loudly that Heero had to force himself not to flinch and reach for the gun he had strapped under the table. “You can’t really believe that Quatre’s alive and out there somewhere! The media would have caught onto something. His sisters would have investigated into anything that seemed suspicious, wouldn’t they?” 

Heero was quiet for a second. “Unless his sisters were in on it.” Heero said after a long pause. “Relena said she got a weird vibe from a couple of them at the funeral. She tried to talk with them the last few weeks, but none of them are willing to talk with her. All she gets are messages from secretaries saying that they don’t want to speak of their brother’s death to anyone outside the family.” 

Duo frowned. “They could just want privacy. The Winners have always been circled by vultures after painful events. Did Quatre ever tell you about the death threats he got after his father died? They only got worse after the war and it became public knowledge that Quatre had been involved in the fighting. L4 is a colony of pacifists. It took a while for the media to stop painting him as the bad guy. That was mostly because of Relena’s efforts.”

“Which makes it odd that they would refuse to talk with her now.” Heero shrugged. “She was close with a few of the Winner sisters. I find it strange that she’s shunned now.” 

“Maybe your right.” Duo nodded, but frowned deeply. “But if you are right about his sisters and you are right about Quatre trying to – uh – reconnect with you through your super secret link, that means that he’s been in trouble for four months and we haven’t done a thing about it.” 

“He felt desperate.” Heero closed his eyes, allowing the phantom emotions to roll through him again. “Whatever he’s going through is wearing him down. We need to find him quickly if we want to save him.” 

Duo took a moment to consider everything that had been said. Finally he shrugged a shoulder, giving into the crazy and going along for the ride. “Alright Heero, if you think he’s out there somewhere alive, I’m not going to sit around while you go play knight and shinning armor. If he is alive, we’ll find him. If he isn’t, I’m going to kick your ass.” 

“Understood.” Heero nodded and continued to search the photos from the accident for possible clues. 

“Maybe he’ll try to communicate with you again.” Duo flopped into the chair next to Heero and looked at the photos over Heero’s shoulder.

“I hope he does.” Heero said, although his heart clenched at the thought. The emotional turmoil he’d felt had been overwhelming, so much so that he could barely focus on Quatre himself. “I got the impression that what he was trying to do was very taxing. It might be awhile before he can try to reach out to me again.” 

“Well, try to give me a little warning when he does.” Duo smirked. “I might not be close enough to keep you from busting up that pretty face of yours.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Heero deadpanned. 

__

It took the rest of the day for Quatre to feel able to move off the floor and onto the bed. He knew from past experience that Roman wouldn’t return until the next morning. Slowly, painfully Quatre had been able to make it into his small bathroom to get the drink his body longed for. Once his head had stopped throbbing he ran himself a bath and eased his aching body into the tub. 

Initially, when he first had come to reside in this awful place, Quatre had been concerned that his demented captor had surveillance cameras both in the bathroom and his ‘bedroom,’ but those fears were just that, fears. Although Roman had made it clear since Quatre had first day in this hell that his only purpose for living was to bring Roman pleasure, it appeared that the man wanted the real, live thing, not simply images. 

Quatre’s body shivered as the water surrounded him. He hadn’t had enough energy to strip out of his clothes, but he honestly did not care. He felt the warmth of the water as it seeped into his frozen skin. 

The world thought he was dead. 

That explained a lot, actually. It explained why the other pilots hadn’t found him yet. Roman had made a mistake when he’d revealed what had happened. Quatre realized Roman was simply trying to break down his spirit by revealing the truth, but it had the opposite effect. Quatre felt ready to fight back. Now that he knew he could connect with Heero he could use it to convince his friend that he was alive and in need of help. Although Quatre had lingering doubts that his friends would come to help him, Quatre pushed them roughly aside and forced himself to remain positive. 

With his ability he would convince Heero to save him. Willingly or not. 

No, Quatre blinked – where had that come from? He would never willingly force another human being to do anything against their will. 

Perhaps being stripped of control for so long was driving Quatre insane. The former pilot closed his eyes and pushed the dark thoughts away. If he couldn’t convince Heero that he was alive and needed help than he would escape another way. He’d do what Quatre had been considering for the last week or so. 

Perhaps the only way to be free of this nightmare was to take his own life, but Quatre wasn’t there yet. 

He still had hope. 

He still had Heero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for stopping by!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

It had been two days since Heero had collapsed and Duo was starting to think his friend had lost his goddamned mind. 

“Do you really think this is going to help?” Duo asked as he watched his friend sit cross-legged in the center of his apartment’s living area. Heero’s eyes were closed, his arms rested on his knees as he meditated. Meditated! It was insane to watch Heero attempt to clear his mind. 

“I fought Quatre the last time he tried to contact me,” Heero explained. “I didn’t understand what had happened until he was already too weak to stick around. If I don’t fight him, maybe it will be easier to communicate with him.” 

“This is crazy.” 

“Shut up.” Heero opened one eye and expertly glared at Duo with his one eyed stare. “I’m trying to clear my mind.” 

“That’s it,” Duo threw up his arms, but froze when Heero made an alarming noise and his eyes rolled up into the back of his head. Duo blew a breath up into his bangs and made a face as he knelt by Heero’s frozen form. “Well, just don’t die, okay, this is stressful enough.” He whispered and waited for whatever was happening to be over. 

__

Heero fell back into his mind as soon as he felt the tug he’d experienced in the park. He found himself dragged back into space. Briefly he wondered if this was where Quatre’s ‘space heart’ lived. 

“Quatre.” He called as he floated in the darkness. He knew he wasn’t quite alone, but Quatre was still invisible to his eyes. 

A light moved and Heero turned his attention to it. 

“Heero.” The light whispered. It was Quatre. So small and dim that Heero was afraid this entire thing would kill the man instead of save him. “You understand.” 

“Yes.” Heero affirmed quickly. “Where are you?” 

“I’m not sure.” Quatre admitted. “I believe Earth.” There was a flutter in their connection, a wave of interference in the dark blanket of space around them. “Roman Menera, Heero – I’m sorry.” 

“Sorry for - ?” Heero started to ask, but was ripped away from Quatre so quickly his head hurt. He blinked and came nose to nose with Duo. 

“You were talking out loud.” Duo said robotically. “Like this. It was creepy.” 

“He slipped away, but he gave me a name.” Heero said and stood up too quickly. He pitched forward and Duo was quick to grab ahold of him to stop his quick descent to the ground. 

“That’s twice I’ve saved you.” Duo grinned and Heero rewarded him by vomiting on his shoes. “Dude! What the hell.” 

“Room – spinning.” Heero explained and gripped Duo’s arm tighter. 

“No excuse! Ew!” Duo gagged as Heero’s vision narrowed and he fell completely limp in his friend’s arms. 

__ 

Quatre was roughly dragged away from Heero and opened his eyes to find Roman looking down at him. 

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” His Master asked and Quatre couldn’t find the strength to respond. He felt shaky and disoriented. The exhaustion he had felt from the first attempt to reach out to Heero had returned with a vengeance and his eyes started to roll in the back of his head. 

Another violent shake forced Quatre back to awareness. 

“Were you trying to kill yourself?” The man asked, outraged. Quatre vaguely wondered if he should correct the man from his assumption, but his tongue felt thick in his mouth and his lips were so dry they cracked when he tried to form a word. “I won’t allow it! You won’t escape me, my pet.” 

Roman lifted him up roughly and tossed him onto the bed. Fear shot through Quatre as he thought that maybe Roman would force himself onto him again. The fear was short lived as, apparently, Roman liked his sexual partners to be mostly coherent. Roman left the room, but returned within moments with a man who looked vaguely familiar to Quatre. 

Between blinks Quatre spotted a syringe filled with an unknown substance being stabbed into his left arm. He cried out, but the darkness that followed was welcomed. 

__

Heero’s head throbbed as he blinked his dry eyes open. He was in a hospital room, he realized. An obnoxious beeping noise sang the notes of his heartbeat as he lay there thinking he didn’t belong in a hospital. He belonged – with Quatre. His eyes widened a little as he turned his head to the side to search the room. His arms and legs were free, although an IV snaked into his arm. No drugs, just saline, he surmised after a quick glance. 

“You owe me a new pair of shoes.” Duo announced from the doorway. “We’re at the Preventer’s hospital. Sally will be in soon to look you over, now that you’re back with the land of the living. You freaked me the hell out, you know that?” 

“What – happened?” Heero croaked, his throat painfully dry. 

“You slipped into a coma, you moron!” Duo scolded loudly. 

“Duo, stop yelling at my patient.” Sally said as she made her entrance. She gave a kind smile to Heero who looked at her with his typical, bland look. “It’s good to see you awake, Heero. Duo might not show it very well, but you had us all very worried about you.” 

“I show it in just the right amount.” Duo grumbled, but moved to the sink in the corner of the room and filled up a glass of water and stuck a straw in it for Heero to suck through. 

After he’d had a few, soothing sips, Heero looked back at Sally who was taking his vitals. “What happened?” He asked again, figuring that she would at least have the decency to explain. 

“Well, Duo said you got sick suddenly and passed out after meditating a few days ago.” 

“Days?” Heero asked, his heart clenching inside his chest. He’d been out for days? 

“It was a bit of a puzzle.” Sally continued as she watched the monitor, “I’ve never heard of anyone having such an adverse reaction to a little bit of meditation. You’re clean of any drug use and you still are in excellent shape physically, so I was hoping you could fill me in on what Duo left out.” 

Heero suddenly understood why Duo hadn’t explained the entire situation to Sally. It did sound slightly insane. 

“Apparently I shouldn’t try meditation again.” Heero answered. Behind Sally he watched Duo’s jaw drop and Sally’s eyebrows rose up to her hairline. Clearly that had not been the response either of them had predicted he’d make. “When can I leave?” 

“Heero, you were in a coma for two and a half days.” Sally pointed out carefully. “I’d rather not release you until I have a more concrete idea of why that happened.” 

“I’ll sign out against medical advice if I have to.” Heero told her, holding her gaze sharply. “But I am leaving.” He said and slowly sat up. 

With a sigh of defeat Sally helped him unhook the wires monitoring his vitals and gently pulled out his IV. “I’ll get the papers for you to sign.” She said shortly as she walked towards the door. She hesitated in the doorframe and turned back to the two Gundam pilots. “You could trust me, you know. I could help you.” 

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Heero nodded. He knew Sally would help them when and if they needed her, but right now they didn’t have enough proof that Quatre was alive and needed help. Until they could prove that, Heero couldn’t afford people writing him off as mentally unhinged. 

Once alone with Duo, Duo crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. “Are you going to tell me what happened?” 

“He gave me the name of the person holding him.” Heero answered, but grew quiet as he heard Sally return. She eyed him suspiciously but shrugged a shoulder and left with instructions for him to give the documents to a nurse before he left. Sally was smart, she knew that something was going on and that she would be included when it became necessary. Heero had always liked that about Sally. 

“Who is it?” Duo whispered, more aware that they needed to keep a low profile. 

“Roman Menera.” Heero said as he signed through the papers without reading them. This wasn’t the first time he had to do this, it likely wouldn’t be the last. 

“What?” Duo gaped. “Roman Menera? Are you sure?” 

“That’s what he said before the connection broke.” Heero frowned and looked up at his companion. “You know who that is?” 

“This just got a lot harder.” Duo frowned. “Roman Menera is about as big as Quatre in the business world. He owns a lot of different companies, but mostly he’s known for manufacturing weapons – something that’s mostly obsolete in peace, wouldn’t you say?” Duo narrowed his eyes. “He started some new ventures, I think he’s actually a share holder in Winners Enterprises. Holy crap! That merger happened just after the funeral. Heero, do you really think he had something to do with Quatre’s death?” 

“I think he’s holding Quatre, we just need to find out where.” Heero’s expression turned grim. If Roman manufactured weapons he more than likely resented the peace that Quatre had worked so hard to create and keep. Quatre hadn’t been shy about his ideals of a peaceful universe. He, like Relena, was one of the few spokespeople who held such a strong influence over the people. They were the reason why the Colonies and Earth had been able to work together to maintain peace and stop any potential conflicts from arising. 

“Did Quatre tell you anything else?” Duo asked as Heero continued to fill out the paperwork. 

Heero hesitated as he thought back. “He thought he might be on Earth.” Heero said as he flipped to the last page that required his signature. 

“Earth?” Duo repeated thoughtfully as Heero moved off the table. He was wearing green scrubs, much to his distaste, but figured that he would be able to change once they made it back to his apartment. 

“Earth.” Heero nodded and shivered, a flash of an image danced across his eyes. He stood in a room with a window where he could only see the sky. Heero trembled from the sudden chill as he refocused on Duo’s concerned face. “I’m alright.” He insisted. Admittedly Heero didn’t believe himself, but he needed to get out of the hospital if he wanted to save Quatre. 

“Menera has mansions on Earth in several different locations. It might take a while to figure out which one Quatre’s in.” Duo frowned. “If this guys smart he might have a place off the records.” 

“He sounds arrogant enough that we probably don’t have to worry about that.” Heero growled and headed for the door. He tossed the papers at an unprepared nurse who didn’t appear to be alarmed or concerned that a patient was leaving. Either Sally had warned her or she was simply used to other Preventer agents acting in a similar way. “We’ll check the closest location to us and work from there.” 

“Should we call in Trowa and Wufei?” Duo asked reluctantly. Heero could still see the doubt in his friend’s eyes. Although Heero was fairly certain that Duo trusted him, he was also fairly certain that Duo was terrified that Heero might be wrong. The disappointment of learning that Quatre was dead for the second time would be devastating. Not just to Duo, but to Heero as well. 

Heero didn’t believe in ghosts, it was Quatre and Quatre was alive. He had to be. 

“No. Not yet.” Heero shook his head. “Wufei isn’t going to like any of this and Trowa is too emotionally attached.”

“We’re all emotionally compromised when it comes to Quatre.” Duo pointed out. “Even you, mister tough guy.” 

“I’m not saying we’re not.” Heero sighed as they finally made it free from the hospital. He took a deep breath of fresh, Earth air. He was happy that Relena spent a lot of time on Earth now-a-days. He preferred Earth’s natural air to the recycled air of the colonies any day. “But we’re here and we don’t have much of a choice. We have to investigate this. I have to. I’ll understand if you can’t handle it.” 

“Damn it, I’m not walking away.” Duo nearly shouted at Heero as they made their way towards Duo’s rented car. “If Quatre is alive I’m going to fight with all my worth to save him.” 

“Good.” Heero said as he slid into the passenger’s side of the car. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”


	4. Chapter 4

Quatre stared up at the ceiling with dead eyes. Everything was fuzzy, but he couldn’t remember why. Heero, hadn’t Heero been there? No. Heero thought he was dead. Yes. The world thought he was dead. 

“I see you are finally awake.” A calm voice drifted to him from across the room. Quatre slowly turned his head. It felt heavy. His body felt heavy. The world felt heavy. His emotions, they were dulled. He couldn’t feel, and yet, he could feel everything at the same time. 

Quatre tried to speak, but found he couldn’t. Not because his lips were heavy, a flash of what might have been fear spiked through him, but was eaten away by the blur before it could really take hold. There was something across Quatre’s lips. Some sort of gag. 

“I wouldn’t want you to think that this is a time for you to manipulate the staff onto your side.” His master said with a quirk of his lips. “I know how you operate, dear one. You and that silver tongue of yours. Those eyes were too expressive as well, I had them up the drugs they were giving you.” 

Drugs. That explained a lot. Quatre moaned softly, his eyes fluttering shut as he felt a hand brush across the skin of his arm. His eyes tried to open, but couldn’t beat the gravity holding them closed. 

“Relax, my pet.” Roman cooed softly, his minty breath brushing against Quatre’s cheek as he spoke. “The drugs will help you with your little problem. Soon all those thoughts of leaving me will disappear. You are mine, Quatre, forever.” 

__

“Do you think he’ll try and contact you again?” Duo asked as they drove through the wilderness towards the first location. 

Heero had been wondering that himself. It was the only reason he gave into Duo’s insistence that he didn’t drive. It would be less than helpful if Quatre knocked him out while driving. Heero couldn’t save him if he was the one who died in a fiery car crash. 

“We’ll see.” Heero said vaguely, since he really didn’t have an answer. It wasn’t a two way connection. He couldn’t push himself into Quatre’s head – although that would make everything a lot easier. Overlooking the whole a coma thing. 

It had been five days since Heero had ‘heard’ from Quatre and Heero felt mildly alarmed at the silence. He was slightly worried that Quatre had tried to contact him while he was in his a coma, but he had no proof either way. All he had was an ache in his chest that told him something was desperately wrong. 

“Maybe you should try meditating again?” Duo suggested reluctantly. “That seemed to draw him to you before.” Heero glanced at Duo and realized that he wasn’t the only one worried about Quatre’s silence. 

“I have a feeling that was more luck than anything else.” Heero admitted tiredly as he looked out the window and into the trees. The research Duo and he had come up with on Menera was more or less propaganda. Even hacking the system hadn’t provided him with any evidence that Menera had anything to do with Quatre’s death. The only real connection Menera had, apart from the obvious feud with Quatre’s father, was the sudden and unexplained merging of Menera and Winner Enterprises. 

This led Heero to believe that Quatre’s sisters were in fact the ones who had orchestrated Quatre’s death, real or fake. It made Heero feel sick to accept that his friend’s blood-relatives had actually sold their brother to their business rival to merge powers.

The proof of the two companies monopolizing power on L4 was sickening. It was something Quatre would have fought tooth and nail to avoid. The people were suffering. Even Relena had expressed concerns over L4 in their daily vid-chats. Although Heero hadn’t told Relena what he was doing, she hadn’t questioned him either. As far as Heero knew, Relena thought Duo was helping him grieve. 

Either way, it worked in Heero’s favor. 

“You’re worried about the silence,” Duo whispered. “Aren’t you?” 

Heero grunted his response, unable to voice the ‘yes’ that his mind was screaming. Quatre had been so desperate when they first connected. The second time he was much weaker. What if the over taxation of his ability had done physical or psychological damage? What if, like Heero, Quatre had fallen into a coma? What if Quatre hadn’t come out of the darkness?

“There’s no use worrying about something we have no control over.” Heero tried to console Duo. At least one of them shouldn’t have to worry about the reality of the situation. 

“We’re coming up on the mansion now.” Duo announced after another half hour of driving. The two got out of the car after Duo parked it deep in the woods. Heero noted that the trees were tall and had a sinking feeling. 

“This isn’t the place.” He told Duo and started to get back into the vehicle. 

“What, we aren’t even going to stake it out for a bit?” Duo asked. “We need to be sure before we go traipsing off to the second location.” 

“He said there was a window where he could see sky.” Technically, Heero admitted to himself, Quatre hadn’t said it, Heero had seen it as a flash in his mind. Duo didn’t need to know that though. It was better if the American was unaware of just how crazy Heero had become. “These trees are too tall, he’d be able to see them from a window.” 

“Not if he was locked in a tower that was higher than the trees.” Duo pointed out. “Its dense in this area, we can’t see what the other side looks like. Look, we don’t know for sure. I’m not leaving here until we do.”

Heero felt a moment of indecision. He understood what Duo meant and agreed with it, however, he also knew that Quatre was suffering wherever he was. Time was something they didn’t have on their side. 

“Alright.” Heero agreed reluctantly and followed his friend into the woods. 

The mansion was massive. There was a large field on one side, cutting deep into the wooded area. Perhaps Duo had been right after all, Heero considered as he looked over the neatly kept grounds. There was a labyrinth of bushes surrounding a small lake. Any other time Heero might have thought the place was peaceful looking. Nothing owned by such a cruel man could be considered peaceful. 

Heero glanced at Duo who nodded. They’d separate and search the building for a clear entrance point. If all went accordingly, they’d be able to search the building without any hindrances. 

An hour later and Heero was tense. The sun had set and they were ready to infiltrate the mansion. 

Something didn’t sit right with Heero as they made their move. They entered unseen and easily stayed clear of any video surveillance in the hallways. The guards, far and few between, didn’t give them a second of trouble. 

It felt too easy. Each room revealed nothing of interest. 

Not until they reached a secluded room on the field side of the house. It was the room Heero had seen in his vision. He spotted the window and froze as Duo searched the bare room. 

“Heero.” Duo’s tight voice called to him softly. Heero looked from the window and noticed what Duo wanted him to see immediately. A chain attached to the wall. There were obvious signs of a laser being used to cut it apart, leaving a mangled iron cuff behind. 

“They moved him.” Heero whispered and soaked in what had been Quatre’s hell for the last four months. The bed was neatly made, despite the disturbing sight on the ground and nothing else was left out of place. 

“We should go.” Duo whispered. “We aren’t going to find him here.” 

“I need to find a computer.” Heero said instead of agreeing and headed back down the hall to the last computer terminal he had spotted. Once in front of the computer he started to work with precise ease. His hands moved through the familiar motions of hacking the system and gathering the information he was looking for. “There.” He said pointing at the screen. “They called a medical team the same day I fell into a coma.” 

“You think Quatre slipped into a coma too?” Duo whispered. 

“It’s a possibility.” Heero narrowed his eyes. “Here, look at this.” Heero pointed to the screen. “Menera bought this rehabilitation center that day. It’s small and only a few miles from here.” 

“You think he’s holding Quatre there?” Duo asked, but shook his head. “Of course he is, I don’t even know why I bothered to ask. Alright, I’ve got the address. Let’s go.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, life is distracting. Sorry!

At first there was only darkness. A sliver of movement broke through the shadowy black. 

His eyes blinked up at the blurry ceiling. The light wasn’t too bright, but it still added painful pressure to his already aching head. He wondered why he felt so tired, but accepted it was how it always had been. He couldn’t remember feeling anything other than exhaustion and confusion. 

“You’re awake again.” A voice said to him. Male, he recognized as he tipped his head to look at the source. The man was tall, but muscular in a way that was intimidating. Especially with how the man leaned over him as he spoke. “Do you remember what happened?” 

He couldn’t remember anything, he realized with a shrill of panic. His eyes widened and he squeaked a little in response. 

“Don’t try to talk.” The man said, his icy gray eyes unsettling. “You injured your throat in the crash. How about you blink once for yes and twice for no.” He suggested. “Does that sound okay?” He asked gently, but forcibly. 

He blinked once. 

“Good.” The man smiled brightly. “Do you remember what happened?”   
He blinked twice, a tear escaping from behind his eyes. 

“That’s alright, you hit your head pretty hard.” The man said, reaching out and brushing his knuckles against his face. “Do you remember who you are?” 

Again, a swell of fear and sadness rushed through the man on the bed. He blinked twice and fought back a sob. 

“You’re going to be okay, my little one.” The man promised. “I’m going to take care of you.” 

__

“There’s only one patient room active.” Duo reported as he regrouped with Heero. “How much do you want to bet that Quatre’s in that room?” 

“I don’t bet on sure things.” Heero said and reluctantly holstered his gun. 

Duo eyed him with a curious frown. “What are you doing?” He asked tightly. 

“We can’t kill anyone when we extract Quatre.” Heero said bluntly. He hated that they wouldn’t be able to make the people in the building suffer what they might have done to Quatre during his captivity. 

“What?” Duo went from shocked to angry in record time. “You aren’t just going to leave those bastards – ”

“We don’t have a choice.” Heero closed his eyes briefly. “If we want to avoid creating an intergalactic incident, we need to do this quietly. We’ll get him out and later we can expose Menera and the Winner sisters for who they really are. Right now all that matters is getting Quatre out of there and back to the Preventer Base.” 

“Fine.” Duo agreed reluctantly. “But I can’t promise I won’t use excessive force if we have to knock anyone out.” 

“Fair enough.” Heero nodded and they made their move, silently running up to the building and sneaking inside. They were trained for this – for another purpose, but it was useful all the same. They knew exactly where the room they were headed was, so it didn’t take long to arrive. A man was exiting, so they hid and listened. 

“He’s making more progress than I could have ever dreamed.” A man was saying. “I don’t know why I didn’t come to you in the first place, Bladen.” 

“I’m grateful for this opportunity to test some of my new drugs.” The second man, Bladen spoke with boasted pride. “He is the perfect candidate. Everything is working just as it should. I have to say, your idea to paralyze his voice box was brilliant. He’ll imprint on you and rely on you more and more. With the memory suppressor he should never have a reason to question anything. He’s yours.” 

“I’ll return tomorrow afternoon.” The first man, he had to be Menera, said. “Keep him under until then.” 

“At your command.” Bladen promised. Duo and Heero stayed in the shadows until both men had retreated down the other hallway. Heero glanced to Duo and nodded. They needed to act fast and act now if they were going to get Quatre out of there. 

The conversation they had just over heard was more than worrying. Quatre’s memory had been repressed and his voice box paralyzed. Neither of those things sounded good, but it explained why Quatre hadn’t attempted to contact him a third time. 

Something inside Heero tightened painfully, it felt like his heart was being stretched. 

They moved silently, but quickly into the room. Duo hung back by the door as Heero moved towards the bed’s occupant. An IV snaked into Quatre’s left hand, a port was left open for drugs to be administered on an ‘as needed’ bases. Heero had an idea that they used it far more than ‘as needed.’ The bastards. 

“Heero, we have to move.” Duo reminded him quietly. 

With a grunt of acknowledgement Heero unhooked Quatre from the various lines, turning off the machines before he undid the sensors. As soon as he went for the IV, however, Quatre’s eyes snapped open. For a moment they stared at each other. 

“Quatre.” Heero whispered. “We’re getting you out of here.” 

Quatre’s lips parted, but no sound came out. Heero was immediately reminded that Bladen had mentioned they had purposefully paralyzed Quatre’s vocal cords. He couldn’t speak. Reigning in his anger, Heero raised his hands so that Quatre could see them. 

“I know you don’t remember me right now,” Heero told his blond friend carefully. “I know that you don’t know who to trust, that’s fair. What do you feel, Quatre? Trust your emotions. Let them guide you.” 

Quatre stared back at him, closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded. With Heero’s help Quatre sat up and Heero gently removed the IV port. Still weak from the drugs Quatre needed help to get out of the bed and to stand. Heero supported him with an arm around his waist. They hadn’t even bothered to dress Quatre in anything other than a flimsy, paper gowned. 

Duo offered Quatre a bright smile as they joined him at the door, but Heero could see the strain. Duo was pissed and ready to kill Bladen. 

“Let’s blow this joint.” Duo said to Quatre who glanced at Heero for reassurance. Heero nodded and the trio made their escape. 

Back at the car Heero helped Quatre into the backseat. Heero moved to pull away and shut the door when Quatre grabbed his arm. Although he couldn’t speak the words, Heero understood. “Duo, get us out of here.” Heero said, scooting into the car next to Quatre and shut the door. 

Quatre stared at Heero, all but ignoring Duo as he slid into the driver’s seat and started the car. 

“My name is Heero Yuy,” Heero started uncertainly as he looked back into Quatre’s wide, sky blue eyes. “This is Duo Maxwell.” He didn’t want to say the wrong thing. It was obvious that Menera had already lied to Quatre. He’d already tried to convince Quatre that he was the one to trust. Heero didn’t want to push Quatre to trust him. He wanted Quatre to realize he could trust him on his own. 

Quatre tried to talk again, the pain and frustration was evident. 

“I know it’s frustrating.” Heero sighed. “Listen to your heart, Quatre. You already know who to trust.” 

Quatre glanced towards Duo, who watched them in the rearview mirror. The blonde looked back to Heero and nodded once slowly. Heero froze when Quatre’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. Quatre looked away, about to break down, Heero realized. The stress Quatre was feeling, Heero could only guess. 

“Hey, you’re going to be okay.” Heero said. “We’re going to help you figure this all out on your own time. No pressure, okay?” Quatre looked back at Heero and nodded a little sharper. Tentatively, Quatre reached out a shaky hand and after a moment’s hesitation, poked Heero in the arm, as if he was trying to reassure himself that Heero was real. 

Bladen had said he’d used Quatre to test his drugs, there was a chance that more drugs than they were aware of had been used. Possibly hallucinogens. The thought wasn’t a pleasant one. He took Quatre’s hand gently and hesitated, Quatre moved to close the gap between them. Quatre curled into Heero’s chest and Heero immediately wrapped a protective arm around the smaller man. 

Duo met Heero’s stare in the rearview mirror and silently Heero requested they go faster. 

Duo obliged.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just started writing a high school AU for this fandom....anyone interested? It's angsty, lol.

Quatre had fallen asleep again by the time they arrived back at the hotel where they had rented a room the night before. 

“Should we wake him?” Duo asked as he hovered outside the open car door. 

Heero’s arm tightened reflectively around Quatre’s sleeping form. He wanted to protect Quatre from everything that had happened, but it was impossible. It was impossible to change the past, but he could protect Quatre’s future. 

And he would. 

“I think he’s out cold.” Heero admitted when Quatre didn’t flinch. “I’ll carry him in, can you help me?” 

“Sure.” Duo nodded. Together they managed to maneuver Quatre out of the car and into Heero’s arms. 

“You got him?” Duo asked, not ready to pull away from his friends. 

“Yeah, I’ve got him.” Heero agreed with a glance down at Quatre’s pale face resting against his chest. It was hard to believe that this wasn’t the same Quatre he’d known five months ago. He hoped that eventually they could get that Quatre back, but he knew that there was always the chance that that Quatre, the Quatre from the war, was gone forever. 

It all depended on the drugs in Quatre’s system and Quatre’s uncanny ability to beat the odds. 

They walked into the hotel and ignored the strange looks they received. Duo made a joke at the elevator about their friend’s low alcohol tolerance, which got a few people to snicker. A short ride and a brisk walk later and they were enclosed in the relative safety of their room. 

Immediately Heero laid Quatre out on the bed. He was still wearing the hospital gown, which seemed wrong to Heero. It left Quatre vulnerable in a way he wasn’t comfortable with. Without a word to Heero he moved to his bag and started searching for something clean for Quatre to wear. 

“He’s so skinny.” Duo said, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. “Did they even feed him? Those bastards. Are you sure we can’t go back and kill them?” Duo asked. 

“Quatre would want them brought to justice, not killed.” Heero answered, although he secretly wished he could go back and kill every last one of them himself. “Help me put these on him.” 

Duo turned and glanced at what Heero had in his hand and nodded. “Good thinking.” He agreed and helped Heero dress Quatre with clean boxers and a soft pair of black sweats. They were obviously too big, which was saying something since Heero had always been on the lean side. Duo crumpled up the flimsy hospital gown as they eyed Quatre’s chest with twin gazes of concern. 

Heero had to leave the room. He stormed out onto their balcony and nearly tossed the furniture over the railing. Quatre was thinner, sure, but what had set him off were the bruises. Dark purple splotches lined with faded green and yellow hues. It was bad enough they had kept Quatre prisoner for four months without any of them realizing, but to know that Quatre was continuously hurt during that time was unforgivable. 

“Hey.” Duo appeared at his shoulder, but knew Heero well enough to give him space. “We got him out of there, that’s all that matters right now. Heero, if it wasn’t for you he’d still be there, in that place. Remember that, alright? You are the reason he’s free.” 

“It doesn’t feel like it.” Heero admitted. “Right now. I just want to kill someone.” 

“Hey, don’t look at me.” Duo said, raising his hands up in surrender. “I can drive pretty fast if you’ve changed your mind about causing an intergalactic incident.” 

“No. We got Quatre back.” Heero heaved a deep sigh. “For now that has to be enough.” 

“We should get him some food.” Duo suggested with a side-glance in Quatre’s direction. “He’s skin and bone.” 

“And some clothes.” Heero agreed with a nod. 

“I’ll take care of it.” Duo offered. “Besides, it’s you he has the connection with. I’m just his best friend.” 

Heero resisted rolling his eyes and nodded. “Hurry back.” 

Duo nodded and waved before he headed out into the hallway. Heero made sure the lock was activated after Duo left and moved back to his laptop. One of the first things he’d done when they arrived at the hotel was he tapped into the hotel’s security system. He watched as Duo made his way to the elevator and snorted when Duo turned to face the camera and winked at him. The bastard. Once Duo had safely left the hotel Heero glanced at the still figure on the bed. 

Curiosity got the better of Heero and he stood over Quatre and silently categorized each visible injury. There was significant scarring on Quatre’s right ankle – probably from the metal cuff they had found in Quatre’s glorified cell. His bare stomach held mostly bruises and no new scars, but Heero wondered about Quatre’s back. Gently he moved closer to the bed and sat down. After a few seconds of internal debate, Heero carefully turned Quatre onto his side. 

More bruising greeted his eyes as he looked over Quatre’s back. There were some welts that indicated something other than fists had been used to strike against Quatre’s skin. Some, much to Heero’s loathing, would likely scar. It looked like it had been a belt buckle, but only Quatre would know for sure. If he ever regained his memory. 

With a sad sigh Heero laid Quatre back down on his back and noticed that Quatre was awake and looking at him with caution. 

“I was checking you for injuries.” Heero explained after an awkward moment of staring at one another. “Do you hurt anywhere?” Heero asked before he remembered that Quatre couldn’t talk. “I’m sorry, I forgot.” Heero held up a hand and glanced around the room. He found a small note pad of paper and the hotel’s complementary pen and handed it over to Quatre. 

Quatre glanced at the offering and nodded, weakly moving to sit up. Heero held prop him up against a stack of pillows and glanced at Quatre again. 

“Are you up to answer a few questions?” He asked and Quatre nodded slightly. 

“Are you in pain?” Heero asked. “I can give you something for the pain, although I’m not sure if it will react badly to whatever they pumped into your system.” 

Quatre shook his head. 

“Does anything hurt?” Heero narrowed his eyes slightly, not believing for a second that Quatre wasn’t in pain, but he was worried that Quatre couldn’t feel it. 

Quatre shook his head again, but glanced at the paper and started to write. When he was finished he handed it over to Heero so he could read. Heero looked at the words and read out loud. “I feel numb, my body feel strange.” Heero frowned down at the words and looked at Quatre with renewed worry. “We’re going to bring you to our doctor friend, she’ll be able to figure out what they did to you and how to reverse it. I promise, we’re going to fix this the best that we can.” 

Although Quatre looked drained, he held his hand out for the note pad. Heero handed it over and decided to pull up a chair so he didn’t crowd Quatre on the bed. By the time he sat down Quatre was handing him back the note pad. Heero took it and read Quatre’s words out loud. “I don’t remember anything. I can’t talk, but I feel like I should trust you – that I can trust you. Thank you.”

Heero took a moment to compose himself and nodded. “Your welcome, Quatre, I just wish we had gotten to you sooner.” He looked down at his hands before he met Quatre’s half closed eyes. “You should rest, we’re going to leave in the morning.” Heero moved to stand, but Quatre’s hand grabbed hold of his arm weakly. 

With some effort Quatre took back the pad of paper and wrote down something new. 

“Will you stay?” Heero read and nodded. “Quatre, I’m not going to leave you unless you ask me to.” They held one another’s gaze for a moment before Quatre nodded his acceptance and offered a flicker of a smile. Whatever he had read with his empathy seemed to coincide with Heero’s words. Reassured, Quatre allowed his eyelids to close completely and he drifted off into an easy sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Duo returned a few hours later, a large sack of greasy foods in one hand and a few plastic bags of various other items in the other. “I had to guess his sizes, but I think these will work. He said, tossing the bags on the second bed. Duo gave a casual glance in Quatre’s direction. The younger man was curled on the bed facing Heero still perched in the chair he’d moved earlier. “How is he doing?” 

“He woke up for a little while.” Heero informed him quietly. “He said his body feels strange and numb. On the bright side, it means that he isn’t in pain.” 

“It’s the drugs.” Duo sighed and flopped onto the bed next to the shopping bags. “Sally will figure it out tomorrow when we get him back to the base.”

Heero grunted, but he couldn’t help but worry that the drugs might have caused permanent damage. Choosing to believe that everything would work out was childish at best. Still, maybe it would be easier to stay positive, like Duo. 

The rest of the night went smoothly enough. Heero kept an eye on the newscasts as well as an eye on Menera’s activities. It had become obvious that Menera and his minions had become aware of Quatre’s escape, but they were floundering. The Gundam pilots were far too skilled to leave a trail. 

It was almost humorous to watch. 

Almost. 

In the morning Duo and Heero took turns in the shower before they woke up Quatre. He seemed a bit more alert, but still didn’t seem quite right. He could barely stand on his own and was still unable to talk or remember anything. 

“It’ll come back.” Duo told Quatre as they helped him dress into the clothes Duo had bought for him. It was a bit strange to see Quatre dressed so casually. From time to time Quatre did dress down. Mostly when the pilots had gotten together to play sports or meet for coffee. If Quatre had been working just before he’d rarely change out of his business attire. Now he was dressed in soft blue jeans and a dark tee shirt that still seemed too big for him. 

Quatre looked down at himself critically as Heero helped slip on the shoes Duo had bought him. 

“Hey, I think black looks good on you.” Duo defended his fashion choice with a sly grin. 

“You chose black because you like black.” Heero said flatly as he stood. “Although it does look good on him.” He agreed, causing Quatre to blush a light red color. “We should move out. The sooner we can get to Sally the sooner she can run his blood.” They had taken a few vials just after they had rescued Quatre with the hope that the drugs could be analyzed at their highest potency. 

Quatre sighed and slumped his shoulders a little. Duo and Heero shared a concern glance. They had no idea what was going through Quatre’s blond head. 

“Quatre?” Heero asked finally, kneeling down beside Quatre’s spot on the bed. 

The blond opened his mouth, but closed it when no sound appeared. A look of sad acceptance flashed across his face. Heero felt his heart ach for his friend. He remembered how frustrated he had felt after he had self-detonated during the war. He had been bed stricken and unable to help Trowa. His body had betrayed him, just like Quatre’s body was betraying him now. 

Duo handed Quatre the pad of paper and the pen and the blond took them automatically. Carefully Quatre wrote down the worry that burdened him and handed it over to Heero to read. 

“Are we going to another hospital?” Heero read for Duo’s benefit. “It’s a base.” Heero tried to explain. “Sally is a friend. She won’t do anything that you are uncomfortable with. I’ll make sure of it.” 

Quatre looked at Heero, then Duo and finally nodded, slowly shuffling onto unsteady legs. Heero moved to support his friend and nodded to Duo to gather up their stuff. They were off within ten minutes. Quatre fell asleep in the back seat, curled with his head resting in Heero’s lap. 

Duo looked in the rearview mirror. “He’s getting attached to you.” 

“He needs an anchor.” Heero nodded. “I can be that.” 

“Can you?” Duo asked. 

“I’ll do whatever I need to in order to protect him.” Heero insisted tightly. 

Duo sighed. “I get that, man, but he’s vulnerable now. Don’t mess with something you can’t do one-hundred percent.” 

Heero frowned. “Explain.” 

Duo double-checked to make sure Quatre was still out and sighed. “He’s growing attached to you. Attached-attached. Like, borderline crush.” 

“Trowa – ” Heero brushed Duo’s concerns off with a huff. 

“Trowa and Quatre haven’t been a thing for years.” Duo rolled his eyes. “Even if he could remember Trowa, Trowa isn’t here.” 

That was new information. Trowa and Quatre’s on again, off again thing had been the worst kept secret of the war. Heero was mildly surprised he hadn’t picked on their unofficial, official break up. But then again, Heero was terrible at reading people outside of a battle.

“When did they break it off?” Heero asked, surprising even himself. 

“Trowa broke it off just before midnight about three New Years Eves back.” Duo sighed. “It was kind of brutal, actually, but Quatre is a pretty forgiving guy. They’ve managed to stay, well, friends. Sort of, Trowa still feels awkward. I laid into him pretty good afterwards, but the bottom line is, Trowa isn’t that guy for him anymore. Don’t put yourself in that position if you can’t handle it, Heero.” 

“I’ll take it under advisement.” Heero said, effectively ending the incredibly awkward conversation. How had he not realized that Trowa and Quatre had broken apart? Some super soldier he was. 

It didn’t really matter. Like Duo said, Trowa wasn’t with them. He wasn’t involved and now that Heero knew that Trowa and Quatre were no longer together, Heero was inclined to keep Trowa in the dark until Quatre could make his own, sound choices. When, if, Quatre regained his memory, they’d let him make that call. 

Heero glanced down at Quatre’s sleeping form and considered the warning. No, Quatre wasn’t falling in love with him. Dependency came in many different forms. Heero could act as his protector and still keep Quatre’s heart intact. 

It was the only option. 

__

They woke Quatre to eat as they loaded up the car. Quatre barely managed to stay awake long enough to finish that. Heero was starting to think it was more because of the mental and physical trauma than the drugs swimming around in his system. 

When they finally arrived at the Preventer base it took a bit of coaxing to convince Quatre to enter the building. Quatre didn’t offer any explanation of why he was hesitant, but Heero could guess. All Quatre could remember up to this point was that doctors brought confusion and pain. Heero understood that. He’d felt the same way for a long time. Sally had helped Heero change his mind in that regard and since then Heero had come to trust her explicitly. 

Once inside the base they tried to avoid as many people as possible, but being subtle was difficult on a training base. By the time they’d finally managed to get to the medical wing Quatre was shaking and flinching at every sound around him. Heero stood close to his right, Duo on his left as they tried to create a protective barrier around the younger man. 

“You doing okay?” Duo asked unnecessarily. Heero shot him a glare, but Quatre was kind enough to flicker a sad excuse of a smile in Duo’s direction. He was anything but fine, Heero sighed. Perhaps they should have gone to his apartment and had Sally come to them. If they had done that, however, they wouldn’t be able to run all the necessary tests. 

“We’ll get out of here as soon as we can.” Heero promised, which earned him a look of relief from Quatre. 

They settled him on the exam table and Quatre nearly had a panic attack. Heero had decided standing would be fine. 

“Quatre.” Sally said as she entered the room. She looked both thrilled and concerned at the state of the blond. Admirably she was able to keep her cool. “So the rumors of your death were exaggerated. You’ve caused quite the stir on the base. People think you are some kind of ghost.” She smiled kindly and Quatre stared her down. Heero watched as Quatre made an assessment of her intentions. Whatever he felt through her emotions seemed to pass whatever test necessary. Quatre relaxed noticeably and glanced towards Heero to explain the obvious. 

“They used some sort of paralytic on his vocal cords. He can’t speak.” Heero explained cautiously. Although there had been time to call in the situation, neither Heero or Duo had done so. Now it seemed as if that might have been a mistake. Still, enemies could be lurking anywhere and keeping Quatre’s situation under wraps seemed prudent. 

Sally narrowed her eyes at Heero and visibly had to reign in her anger. “Those bastards.” She whispered, but took a calming breath as she looked back at Quatre. “I’m glad you were able to escape. I’ll understand if you – ”

“Also,” Heero interrupted carefully, regaining Sally’s acute attention. “They used a memory repressor. He doesn’t know who you are.” 

Silence blanketed the room. After a moment of absorbing the information Sally turned and moved to close the door. She turned back to the pilots and nodded. “We’ll keep this between us. Although most of the Preventers revere you pilots as near gods, there are a few who might use this as an advantage. We’ll finish the tests and get him out of here before anyone finds out how vulnerable he is. Quatre,” She looked directly at the blond. “I realize you might not trust me in this moment, but please know I would never willingly put you in danger.” She looked at Heero. “We’ll run the tests quickly, I’ll view the results myself and meet with you on neutral ground.” 

“Sounds like a plan.” Duo announced and slapped Quatre gently across the back. The blond jumped, but managed a sheepish smile in Duo’s direction. 

As Sally had promised, the tests went as quickly as she could make them go. Quatre seemed to relax around her presence. Mostly. Only flinching when he got distracted and was taken by surprise when she moved too suddenly. 

A painful three hours later and Heero was sneaking Quatre out of the base with Duo running any possible interference. Unlike their entrance, they kept their departure secretive. 

Once they finally had arrived at Heero’s apartment Quatre shyly requested if he could take a shower via the note pad. Heero showed him to the bathroom and offered him a clean towel and new clothes to change into. Both of them glanced at Duo when the new shirts color was revealed to be an obnoxiously bright teal color. 

“What, you said black was my thing.” Duo shrugged and fought to hide his grin. 

“You are hereby relieved of shopping duty. Forever.” Heero deadpanned, handed Quatre the clothes and watched as the bathroom door shut. “Seriously?” 

“I think he’ll look good in that color.” Duo defended playfully, his arms crossed over his chest. “It’ll bring out his eyes.” 

“You might as well have painted a target on his back.” Heero glared. “He’ll stand out too much.” 

“We’re not going anywhere any time soon.” Duo puffed out a breath into his bangs. “Seriously, you worry too much. Besides, if we call in Wufei and Trowa we’ll have all the backup we’ll need.” 

“We’re not calling them in.” Heero announced sharply. 

“What?” Duo blinked. “You can’t be serious! They have the right to know that he’s alive! They’d want to know. You’d want to know if the situation was reversed! He is their friend too.” 

It was true, Heero could agree, but he didn’t want to crowd Quatre any more than the younger man already was. “The less people know about Quatre’s situation, the less problems well have to deal with. His protection is all I care about at the moment.” 

“We just walked him through the Preventer’s base. Word’s going to get out.” Duo pointed out. 

“A mistake we’ll deal with when the time comes.” Heero pointed out. “Right now we need to find another base of operations.” 

“Where?” Duo gawked. “Where else is there to go?”

“Relena.” Heero said confidently. “We go to the summer home. No one will consider us seeking refuge in such a bold place and even if they did, there’s no way anyone can break through her security.” 

“The security that you designed.” Duo nodded, mildly impressed. “Okay. So we go there. Then what?” 

Heero paused. Honestly he wasn’t sure what they would do after they got Quatre somewhere secure. “We wait for him to regain his memory and let him decide. His family betrayed him, the world – the universe thinks he’s dead. His choices have been dictated by those who orchestrated this ordeal, we let him choose from here on out. It’s only fair.” 

“Alright.” Duo agreed. “But let the record show that I was against not telling the others.” 

“Noted.” Heero nodded just in time to hear the water in the shower shut off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The drama continues!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More danger and drama...

It took twenty-four hours for Sally to contact them and when she did so, she did it in person. Well, as ‘in person’ as Heero would allow. Duo went to meet her at a local coffee shop. Nice and open, yet still secluded enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about any undesirables listening in. 

“The paralytic was injected directly into his voice box.” Sally said as she took a sip of her iced latte. She handed over several files for Duo to take back to Heero, but it wasn’t necessary. Heero and Quatre were listening on an open line back at the apartment. “I’m not certain how long it will take for it to wear off, but I can’t imagine it will be more than a few days. He’ll need to take it easy when he does regain his voice. Overuse could damage his voice box irreversibly.” 

“Okay, what about the other drugs they were pumping into him?” Duo asked as he flipped casually through the files in front of him. Sally was well aware of Duo’s photographic memory. What looked casual was direct. Duo was soaking in all the information, storing it for later. 

“Honestly? I’ve never seen the drugs before. Some were variations of memory repressors and muscle relaxers, but they were altered in ways that I’ll have to study a bit more to have any clear answers. It concerns me that he still feels numb. Pain is an important part of life, without it he might be vulnerable to over taxing his reserves.” 

“He’s mostly been sleeping.” Duo pointed out. “No over taxation there.” 

Sally pursed her lips. “He shows signs of a mostly healed broken wrist, bruised ribs and a gunshot wound to his leg.” 

“What?” Duo blinked. “He was shot?” 

Sally nodded with a grave look. “Judging by how much it has healed, I’d say he was shot three or four weeks ago.” 

“He must have been trying to escape, right?” Duo asked her, although he knew she didn’t have the answers he wanted. “They wouldn’t have just shot him for no reason, would they?” 

Unfortunately, Sally wasn’t psychic. “I’m in the dark too, Duo.” She told him and paused for a moment before she continued. “The scarring on his right ankle was likely do to being continuously restrained for a very long period of time.” 

“We figured that much.” Duo nodded. “How long do you think it will take for him to start remembering things?” 

“Hard to say.” Sally admitted. “The drugs he was given were experimental at best, which means that their effects are unscripted. I don’t know. If the drugs haven’t permanently damaged his brain or pain receptors I would think he’d start to remember anywhere from later today to sometime next month or next year.” 

“So, you don’t know.” Duo clarified flatly. 

“No.” Sally agreed. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help. I’ll keep working on figuring out the compounds of the drugs used. I’ve been able to separate at least five in his system. Until we can figure out their makeup we can’t begin to guess what they were intended for, or if it was even working properly.” 

“Do you need him for more tests?” Duo asked tensely. It would be difficult to convince Quatre to return to the base. 

“We’ve already performed all the necessary tests.” Sally said. “Another CT scan wouldn’t hurt, but as far as I can tell his brain looks to be working normally.” She sighed. “I wish I had better information for you guys.” 

“We appreciate your help.” Duo flashed a grin and stood. “Now I’m going to take a stroll around the block seeing as you were shadowed here by two sketchy looking guys.” 

“Caught that, did you.” Sally smirked. “Enjoy your walk, Duo, I’ll see you around.” 

With a wink Duo headed off in the opposite direction of Heero’s apartment and spoke casually. “You were right, Heero, I’ve got some company.” He announced into his small receiver. 

“Watch your back.” Heero offered his wise words of wisdom. 

“No shit.” Duo scoffed. “Look, these guys are likely nosy Preventer Agents, probably nothing, but they might be working for Menera, I don’t know. Do you want me to catch one of them or simply escape and evade?” 

“Escape and evade.” Heero answered. “We’re going to get Quatre secured first. Stick to the plan.” 

“Right.” Duo huffed. “Less fun, but I get it. Safety first.” 

__

An hour later Quatre made a sharp, not gasp and Heero drew his gun on Duo as he slipped into the apartment through the window. 

“Got enough holes, thanks.” Duo winced as he held up one hand, the other still wrapped around his side.

“What happened?” Heero lowered his weapon and scanned Duo for more injuries. He’d obviously already been shot. Quatre stood frozen, his eyes focused on the blood staining the shirt under Duo’s hand. Heero stepped closer, unsure momentarily if he should comfort Quatre or help Duo. “How bad is it?” 

“Lodged in a rib, no real damage, just a little blood loss.” Duo tried to smile for Quatre’s sake. “No biggy.” He hissed, eye twitching into a wince. “Might need some bandages, though. Precautionary, that’s all.” 

Heero stepped forward, steering Duo to the bed and pushing him down. “I’ll get the med kit. Don’t bleed out.” He said with a hint of his unusual style of teasing. 

Quatre took several steps away from Duo, his already pale face was ashy white. Heero glanced at the blond as he reentered the room with the med kit in hands. Quatre never was squeamish of blood, so he didn’t understand Quatre’s reaction. 

Then it hit him. 

The pain. Quatre could feel Duo’s pain. He watched as Quatre held the same area of his body where Duo had been shot. 

“Shit.” Heero breathed and quickly pulled out a morphine syringe and jabbed it under Duo’s skin, not asking permission. 

“Dude, what the hell?” Duo yelped with a harsh flinch. 

“He feels your pain.” Heero explained bluntly, motioning over his shoulder to Quatre. Duo paled a little more and winced as he shot a glance towards Quatre. 

“Damn it,” Duo groaned, “I didn’t even think – ”

“The morphine should kick in quick enough.” Heero said through gritted teeth. Apparently even though Quatre couldn’t feel his own pain, he was still susceptible to others. Damn Quatre’s empathy. “You couldn’t have known.” Heero added, shocking himself by trying to comfort Duo. 

Quatre made another strange not-noise and moved to the wall, once his back hit he slid down to the floor and sat there staring at Duo and Heero. 

“He doesn’t understand.” Duo realized. “He doesn’t know, Heero.” 

“We’ll explain it to him as soon as you’re not bleeding to death.” Heero promised. “Just, hold on.” Heero said and moved to grab some gauze from the kit. He glanced at Quatre, still pale and shaken on the ground across the room. His eyes were distant and that freaked Heero out more than he wanted to admit. Something was very wrong. Terribly wrong. 

“It’s kicking in.” Duo moaned. “Just get it over with. Knock me out if you have to.” 

“I have chloroform.” Heero admitted, eyeing the bottle before his gaze flickered back to Quatre. 

“Do it.” Duo winced. Fluidly Heero uncapped the bottle and poured a small amount onto a cloth and pressed it over Duo’s face without warning. Although slightly alarmed, Duo’s facial expression quickly slackened as he sunk into unconsciousness. Once Duo was out Heero threw a glance over his shoulder at Quatre. The blond was also unconscious. Fear rose into Heero’s chest to join the panic he was already feeling.

Heero glanced at Duo before he rose and checked on Quatre. Just unconscious, Heero heaved a relieved sigh. Now that both of his friends appeared to be out of pain, Heero refocused on Duo and checked over the wound. Like Duo had said, the bullet was caught in his rib. The rib was cracked, but not broken. It was easy enough to remove and patch up. Although the blood loss was concerning, it wasn’t as bad as Heero had originally thought. 

At a loss of what to do once Duo was patched up, Heero moved over to Quatre and lifted the lithe blonde into his arms. Quatre weighed almost nothing. It was almost as disconcerting as Quatre being unconscious. Instead of the situation getting easier, it felt like it was continuously getting worse. 

Heero wasn’t sure he was helping Quatre at all. 

Gently Heero laid Quatre on the bed beside Duo. Honestly it wasn’t probably the best choice to put Quatre so close to Duo, but there was no other bed in the apartment and the couch was far from comfortable. Heero looked down at his two, vulnerable friends and considered his options. 

Maybe he should call in Wufei and…Trowa. 

No. They weren’t there yet. If they could make it to Relena’s mansion tomorrow their problems would, well, there would be less problems to worry about, anyway. Duo would be able to get medical treatment if necessary and Quatre would be safe to recover both his voice and his memory. On his own time. 

There were no other options.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wanted to update now because I'll be gone this weekend. Yay road trip!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, sorry for the random hiatus...blame it on exhaustion.

Duo woke before Quatre. Heero had spent the last few hours of absolute silence scouring the internet for any sign that Merena knew where Quatre was. So far they appeared to be in the clear. Mostly. Whoever had been trailing Sally had been bold enough to put a bullet in Duo. 

“You want to tell me what happened to ‘escape and evade’?” Heero asked Duo when he regained consciousness. 

Duo groaned, but huffed a sigh and snorted. “They didn’t play fair.” He teased. “They weren’t Preventer agents, I can tell you that much. They had a patch on their jackets. I think I can draw it for you.” 

Heero nodded and handed over the pad of paper he kept close for Quatre’s needs. Duo took the pen and started to sketch the design and Heero watched over his shoulder. “I’ve seen that symbol before.” 

“Menera’s men?” Duo guessed, but frowned since he’d seen pretty much all the same information that Heero had, but hadn’t seen the symbol before he had been attacked. 

“No, it’s Quatre’s sister’s companies security logo.” Heero frowned. “I hadn’t even considered tracking the Winners activities. Stupid. I should have considered them to be a problem.” 

“He has, what? Like twenty eight sisters?” Duo pointed out. “We can’t possibly keep track of all of their activity. Now that we have this symbol, though, we know at least one of them is out to hurt their brother.” 

“Or insure that he remains dead.” Heero said worriedly. “They weren’t messing around. Their orders are shoot to kill. We need to move Quatre now.” Heero stood and started to gather what they would need. 

“Now?” Duo started to sit up, but a glare from Heero made him rethink his choice. “I guess I can still drive.” 

“No, you’re on stand down.” Heero told his friend. “You were shot, Duo, you need to recover or your body is going to react badly.” 

“Yeah, I guess.” Duo relented reluctantly. “I’m already kind of feverish.” He admitted when he glanced at Quatre who was showing signs of a similar fever beside him. “He can’t control it, can he?” 

Heero had to look back at Duo to understand what his question meant. “I think it has something to do with him reaching out to me, or maybe his memory loss. He can’t control it because he’s not himself.” 

“It’s a wonder he wasn’t driven insane during the war.” Duo laid back down with a grunt. “All that death and pain – I wonder if he felt everything.” 

“No use thinking about things we can’t change.” Heero said and stood, swinging a duffle across his back. “Can you walk or do I need to carry you as well?” 

“So sensitive, it’s a wonder why the girl’s aren’t flocking to you for marriage proposals.” 

“I don’t see a ring on your finger, either.” Heero jabbed back as he gathered Quatre back into his arms. 

“Not for lack of trying. Hilde doesn’t believe in marriage.” Duo shrugged and slowly, painfully managed to sit up and swing his legs off the side of the bed and plant his feet on the floor. “Not that it’s any of your business.” 

“Maybe she doesn’t believe in marrying you.” Heero joked darkly, earning a sharp glare from his friend. They made it to the car without any trouble. Heero banished Duo to the backseat with Quatre and slid into the drivers seat with renewed determination. 

“Don’t kill us with your suicidal tendencies.” Duo yawned widely and promptly fell asleep against the door. Quatre’s head resting in his lap. Once Heero was certain the two men were out cold he veered the car onto the road and revved the engine with a smirk on his lips. There was a reason why the other pilots didn’t let him drive them places. Heero liked to go fast and he did take calculated risks from time to time, but his passengers were safe with him behind the wheel. Even if they didn’t feel that way. 

The drive that would have taken them five hours only took Heero three. Quatre hadn’t woken up in that time, which was somewhat worrisome, but then again, neither had Duo. 

Heero moved the car right up to the gates and was greeted by one of his security officers. 

“Mr. Yuy, we weren’t expecting you today.” The man said with a frown, glancing at the two seemingly unconscious men in the back seat of his boss’s vehicle. The lack of surprise in the man’s eyes told Heero that his men knew him a little too well. “You wrote the protocol, so I doubt you’ll mind if I force you to follow it.” The man said with a smirk. 

Heero nodded, submitting to a retinal scan, DNA scan and fingerprint scan. Once all three scans had come back clear he was allowed inside the gated yard. 

He parked the car in front of the door just as Relena made her appearance. She was wearing a white sundress with matching shoes that made her look both regal and innocent in a way most people admired. 

“Heero, what’s going on?” Relena asked as she watched Heero move to the back of the vehicle. 

“I need you to ready your doctor.” Heero told her bluntly as he opened the back door and tapped Duo lightly on the cheek. His friend flinched but otherwise didn’t stir. Not a good sign. Neither was the amount of sweat on Duo’s forehead. The fever had taken hold, Heero noted. Reluctantly he looked at Relena. “I also need a stretcher.” 

“Is that,” Relena moved to his side and peered into the car. “Quatre? No, it couldn’t be. Heero – who?” 

“He’s alive, Relena.” Heero told her. “Quatre’s alive. I’ll explain everything, but please, do as I ask.” 

“Right.” Relena nodded reluctantly casting a final glance at both Quatre and Duo before hurrying back inside her mansion and gathering the attention of the people they needed. Within minutes Duo was on a stretcher and Quatre was back in Heero’s arms. They were led to Relena’s private medical wing on the second floor and both Duo and Quatre were settled on the beds provided. 

Heero wasn’t certain if he should separate them further or not. Quatre looked just as bad off as Duo, but Heero wanted to keep a close eye on them both. In order to do that easily, he need them in the same room, regardless of what that might do to Quatre. 

Although the thought of Quatre suffering through more pain brought Heero discomfort, the idea of letting either of his friends out of his sight at the moment was far worse. 

“Heero?” Relena asked as she and the doctor entered the room. The doctor immediately headed towards Duo, given that a fresh stain of blood was soaking through the fabric of his shirt. “Heero, what happened?” 

“Duo was shot.” Heero answered as he watched the doctor cut away his friend’s ruined shirt. 

“Quatre.” Relena moved closer to the downed blonde. 

Heero glanced in her direction, his eyes mostly focused on Quatre. “We’re not completely sure of all the details. There are still pieces of the puzzle we’re just guessing about.” Heero heaved a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “We think his sisters orchestrated his death and, well, sold him to a man that had been their business competitor. Duo was shot by one of the sister’s business’s security guards. They are trying to silence us before we can reveal that Quatre Rebabra Winner is still alive.”

“What has Quatre said?” Relena asked, gently running a hand through Quatre’s sweat-soaked blonde bangs. 

“He doesn’t remember any of it.” Heero admitted tiredly. “We recovered him in a medical rehab clinic. Sally was able to identify six different experimental drugs in his system, possibly more. His memories are suppressed, we’re hoping they aren’t permanent damaged. They injected a paralytic into his vocal cords – he can’t talk. He’s helpless, Relena.” 

“You said someone injected that man with a paralytic in his vocal chords?” 

Heero glanced at the doctor who had just finished setting up an IV in Duo’s arm. He nodded instead of giving verbal confirmation. It wasn’t within his nature to be very chatty around a stranger, even one that had patched him up on several occasions. 

“That’s incredibly dangerous. If they had made even the slightest error it would have effected his breathing – he could have very well died.” 

At his side Heero clenched his fists and turned back to the doctor with a defiant look. “We got him out before they could screw him up that badly.” He brushed away the morbid thoughts of what might have happened if he hadn’t listened to his heart and followed his emotions back to Quatre. He didn’t want to think of what might have happened if Quatre hadn’t thought to try and reach out to him. Such thoughts were too hard to bear dwelling on. 

“How’s Duo?” Relena asked, although her hand never left Quatre’s blonde locks. She was still trying to convince herself that he was truly alive, Heero realized vaguely. Surprised at his own intuitiveness, Heero wondered if perhaps Quatre’s connection with him was causing him to feel a little empathetic as well. 

“The wound was minor,” The doctor answered without looking up from his patient. “But his immune system is down, possibly due to a virus he’s either fighting or recently recovered from.” 

Heero’s eyes narrowed at the news, but didn’t bother interrupting the doctor to curse Duo. He’d do that when Duo was awake to listen. 

“Infection has already set in.” The doctor told them both solemnly. “I’ll treat it as aggressively as I can, but it seems to be burning through him quickly. He’s young, that’ll help him win this battle.” 

Heero stared at Duo as a wash of lightheadedness spilt over him. Relena was suddenly at his side, hand on his elbow in order to steady him. 

“When was the last time you ate something?” She asked, concern dripping from her voice. She couldn’t help Duo or Quatre, but she could insure that Heero didn’t pass out from obvious stress. Heero smirked at the observation, but didn’t pull away from Relena. She was right, he hadn’t eaten in far too long. He’d been far too worried about Quatre and then Duo. 

“I’m not leaving them.” Heero told her flatly. 

“I never assumed you would.” Relena smiled knowingly. “I’ll bring you something to eat.” She glanced at Quatre. “Do you think he’ll want something when he wakes up?” 

“I’m not so certain he’ll wake up.” Heero admitted brokenly, unable to hide his emotion the way he preferred. 

Relena obviously didn’t understand. As far as Heero knew she wasn’t aware of Quatre’s unique ability. Few people were trusted with the knowledge. Quatre had once told Heero that he had been afraid most of his life that someone would think he was crazy and lock him up for believing that he could feel other people’s emotions. When he grew up a little more, Quatre had been afraid that someone might try to exploit his abilities or experiment on him. 

Heero understood that kind of fear. 

“What do you mean, Heero?” Relena asked carefully. “Did something else happen to Quatre?” 

“Not to him directly.” Heero said and glanced at the doctor wearily. Although Heero knew that Quatre’s ability was Quatre’s secret to tell, he also didn’t know if Quatre would be able to tell the doctor. Or if Quatre could even fathom being different than the rest of the world. This Quatre wasn’t Heero’s Quatre. 

This Quatre needed Heero to make the hard choices for him. At least at the moment. 

“What I tell you will never leave this room.” Heero said coldly. His tone was enough to tell both the doctor and Relena that what he had to say was very serious. Relena and the doctor both nodded their agreement. Although Heero wasn’t completely ready to trust the doctor, Doctor Norton, if he remembered correctly, there was little choice in the matter. 

“All my staff is sworn to secrecy,” Relena tried to reassure Heero. “You made sure of that.” 

Heero nodded, took a breath and tried to push away the feeling that he was betraying Quatre somehow. “Quatre has empathic abilities. He used this ability to reach out and contact me – he’s done it before, during the war – that’s how we realized he was still alive. I believe by him doing so that he had to break down the barriers that he used to protect himself throughout his life, especially during the war.” 

“You think,” Relena gasped, her slim fingers covered her lips as they formed a perfect ‘o’ shape. “You think he’s feeling what Duo’s feeling?” 

Heero hesitated. “I believe he feels every emotion each of us are feeling.” 

“If what you’re saying is correct,” Doctor Norton started nervously, “There’s a good chance that he might be worse off than your friend who was shot in the rib.” 

“Explain.” Heero nearly snarled. 

“Not only is he feeling the weakness and pain that your other friend is feeling, but if he feels everyone in the mansion we have to factor in their aches, pains and their own sicknesses. If your friend is unable to filter out these emotions his body may very well shut down.” 

Relena paled noticeably and, if Heero were being honest, he felt his own blood drain from his face. Quatre likely wasn’t just feeling the people in the mansion. They were days apart when Quatre had first reached out too him. If that gave any indication of how far Quatre’s ability could stretch, well, Quatre was in real danger – unless he could rebuild the walls he had broken down. 

Heero looked at Duo and considered the situation again. No, even if he moved Quatre it wouldn’t matter. At this point Quatre was connected with Duo, breaking that connection might make the situation far worse than it already was. 

“Heero,” Relena’s soft voice drew him back to the other people in the room. “What can we do?” 

“We help them.” Heero answered. He knew what he was suggesting was harder said then done, but it was all they had. They only had one option and that was to protect Duo and Quatre in the only way they knew how. “Quatre seems to be focused on Duo right now. If Duo survives Quatre will make it.” 

There was no other option. No viable options, anyway. Quatre wasn’t magically going to wake up and be healed all on his own and there was no one that Heero knew of in the universe who could swoop in and save Quatre from his abilities. There were no easy fixes and Heero simply wouldn’t accept death as an option. After all the trouble Quatre had gone through to be rescued, Heero wasn’t going to allow his friend to die now. 

“I’ll do what I can.” The doctor promised solemnly and turned his attention back to Duo. Once the IV was in place and Duo was being loaded with a mixture of antibiotics the doctor moved to stand by Quatre. At first Heero tensed, ready to physically remove the man from the room, but he told himself to hold his ground. 

“I’m going to set him up with an IV as well and hook him up to machines so we can monitor his progress.” The doctor explained. Norton was used to Heero’s silent glares and stares, the kind doctor seemed to read him better than Heero gave the man credit for. “I don’t think we need to give him much in the way of medication. From what you said his body is only reacting to phantom symptoms. While serious, we can’t exactly treat it without possibly causing more damage to his already fragile system.” 

“Do what you have to.” Heero answered shortly. He was grateful that the doctor had walked him through it, but the situation itself was pissing him off. How had he let things get so out of hand? Maybe if Sally had communicated through a vid-chat – no, that wouldn’t have worked. The vid-chat system was run by a rather shady enterprise. All communications were recorded and there was no guarantee that the news of Quatre’s resurrection or his physic abilities would reach the world at large. No, someone had to meet Sally to go over her findings. It had been better than the alternative of those people following Sally right to Quatre, not that Sally would have allowed it. 

No matter how it played out in Heero’s head, someone would have gotten hurt. Possibly more than one someone’s. 

His thought process rolled back to the information the doctor had supplied him with. Duo had been sick and he hadn’t said a word. It enraged Heero, but in the end there was nothing Heero could do about it. 

After the war Heero had felt lost. He had never expected to live to see a time of peace, or considered what his life would be like not having another battle to jump into. Relena had given him a purpose, but Quatre and Duo had taught him how to live. 

They were the two pilots, friends, who had stuck by him the closest after the war. Trowa and Wufie had their own issues to work through, but Quatre and Duo seemed to make Heero part of their new mission. They had included Heero in their normal, well, as normal as possible, lives. 

Quatre was one of the youngest CEO’s in the universe after the war ended. Even after a long week of meetings and late nights Quatre would put aside time to contact Heero and make arrangements to meet up whenever he could find time. 

Duo had his job with Hilde, but he made his own hours, which left him plenty of opportunities to drag both Heero and Quatre out on crazy drinking adventures. Ironically Duo was the only one who managed to get black-out-drunk, but Heero and Quatre had fun all the same. They’d talk sometimes, but mostly they’d take care of Duo. 

Heero wasn’t sure if he’d survived the end of the war without them. In fact, he knew he wouldn’t have. Relena’s kindness could never have been enough to save Heero from himself. She had her own mission to continue to fight for peace through words. Keeping her safe was only just enough to keep Heero sane. He needed his friends, as much as he hated to admit it. He needed Duo and his strange, erratic tendencies and Heero needed Quatre and his calming, non-judging presence. 

During the war Heero had only gotten to know the battle-side of his comrades. He hadn’t learned certain things until after the war. He knew that Duo was slightly crazy, but he had learned that Duo was also a good listener and would drop anything in order to help in a personal crisis. 

Quatre had never seemed like the type to cause any trouble unnecessarily during the war, but Heero was quick to find out that Quatre could be both playful and quite the prankster when he got bored. 

Heero wasn’t sure what he’d do without either of his friends if they were to die now. It had been hard enough the first time…

Heero had been with Relena when he learned that Quatre had died. It had been so blunt and incomprehensible. The news had not been delivered by a friend, no, Heero had been following Relena towards a set of elevator doors to go up to the floor they had rented at a fancy embassy when he had overheard Quatre’s name being mentioned on the news. 

At first it hadn’t registered. Quatre’s company was constantly the source of media interest after the war. Depending on what colony or Earth city Relena was visiting the news varied between good and bad. Hearing a news report on Quatre wasn’t unusual, but the topic sunk in slow. Heero had stopped in his tracks and listened as he watched Relena walk a few paces ahead of him. She had stopped and turned, her eyes curious as she looked at him. Although he looked back at her, he was focused on what was being reported on the news. 

“Though he inherited his father’s company at such a young age, Quatre Rababra Winner was considered to be one of the most influential people of our time.”

Was. That word…was. Past tense. It had started Heero into turning to face the screen. 

“His sudden death has shocked the universe at large.” One of the anchors said sadly. “His sisters, all twenty eight of them, have asked to be left alone to properly grieve their brother’s death.”

Death. They said the word so commonly, as if they said it all the time. As if Quatre had died a million times before and the meaning of his death had become redundant. Quatre, Heero’s friend, had died and they were talking about it so casually. 

Heero’s phone rang then, interrupting the growing anger and emotion. Relena was at his side by then, her eyes fixed on the screen with her hand covering her mouth in horror. 

Quatre had been her friend as well.

“What?” Heero grunted, shell-shocked as he answered his phone. 

“Did you hear?” Duo’s voice asked brokenly over the line. It sounded like he was crying or very close to breaking into tears. Heero’s heart felt like it had been ripped from his chest. He didn’t know what to do, but crying hadn’t ever been his style. 

“We’re watching it now.” Heero’s breath caught. “How – they haven’t said how.” 

“Car accident.” Duo sobbed the words out. “Some bastard t-boned the vehicle he was in – there isn’t much information available. They say he died on impact.” 

Heero felt like he was in a dream. This couldn’t be reality because he didn’t know how to live in a world where Quatre Winner was dead. 

“Where are you?” Heero asked. If this were happening, he didn’t want Duo to be alone. Duo took a moment to compose himself before answering. “That’s about a days travel. Do you want to come here or do you need me to come to you?” 

Relena was looking at him now, her slim fingers brushed over his arm, an effort to bring him some sort of comfort. There would be no comfort. 

“Heero?” Relena’s voice brought Heero back to the present. “Heero, where did you go?” 

“I’ve been wondering when I’ll wake up.” Heero answered with such honesty it startled himself. He looked at her, their eye lines connected. “None of this should be happening.” 

“Oh, Heero.” Relena whispered.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has one of my favorite lines/conversations that I have ever written. It makes me giggle every time I read it...I hope you enjoy!

It took another twenty-six hours before Duo became stable once more. His fever had broken but Quatre’s still raged strong. Heero wasn’t sure what to think about that. The doctor seemed concerned, which didn’t ease any nerves frayed inside of Heero. He hadn’t left the med room for more than a few minutes at a time, mostly at Relena’s insistence. 

“Hey.” A weak voice rasped from the bed. Though weak, it was as loud as a gunshot in the relatively quiet med room. Heero let his eyes drift to Duo’s face and felt a rush of a mix of emotions wash through him. Heero landed somewhere between anger and indifference as he stood abruptly and fetched the downed man a cup of water for his likely dry throat. 

“Thanks.” Duo croaked and slowly drank the water. “What happened?” He asked after a few strained minutes ticked passed. 

“You were shot.” Heero told him bluntly. 

Duo made a face. “Duh, I mean, what happened after that? I feel like I got hit by a truck.” Duo’s eyes widened comically. “You were driving, holy crap! Did we get into a – did I actually get hit by a truck?” 

“Shut up.” Heero said sharply, eyes closed as he tried to reign in his fury. 

“What?” Duo blinked. 

“You were sick, you idiot.” Heero growled the words as he shook his head and stood. “Why didn’t you tell me? You compromised everything. You could have gotten yourself killed. You could have gotten Quatre killed, he still might die.” 

“What?” That caught Duo’s attention. He tried to sit up, but Heero was quick and forceful to push Duo back down. 

“You don’t move until I tell you that you can move.” Heero snapped so threateningly that Duo gasped in surprise, eyes wide. “Quatre felt what you felt.” Heero tried to explain after a long, awkward stretch of silence. “He’s been experiencing your symptoms, but worse. He still has a fever. The doctor doesn’t know if he’ll survive.” 

“What?” Duo repeated weakly. “No.” 

Heero ran his hands through his hair and tapped his foot restlessly. Now that Duo was awake and on the road to recovery it was hitting him that Quatre might not live. 

“He’s raw,” Heero tried to explain. “His empathy, he has no way to control it now that he’s lost his memories. That and we think he broke down some important walls when he reached out for me. He’s in trouble. I can’t help him.”

“He’s, dying?” Duo asked brokenly. He was barely able to get the words out passed chapped lips. 

Heero felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head. “I’m sorry.” He managed. Duo had just woken up from a terrible fever, after being shot, and Heero was bombarding him with accusations and bad news. 

“You’ve, uh, had a lot to deal with.” Duo noted kindly. “I’m sorry, Heero. I should have told you I felt run down, but when was there time? You passed out after our game and started talking crazy. I honestly thought you had snapped for good. You said that Quatre was alive and, well, I didn’t believe you. I was mostly following you around to make sure you didn’t get yourself into any irreversible trouble.” 

It hurt to hear that Duo hadn’t truly believed him, but Heero couldn’t exactly blame him. Thinking back, Heero wasn’t sure what he would have done if the situation had been reversed. He probably would have dragged Duo kicking and screaming to the nearest head doctor. 

“I – understand.” Heero admitted with some difficultly. 

“Heero,” Duo started, but stopped. “Is he really dying?” 

“We aren’t sure.” Heero breathed. “It doesn’t look good.” He stood, unblocking Duo’s view of the second bed. “He’s been unconscious as long as you have been.” 

“Not a good sign.” Duo said slowly and craned his neck to catch a glimpse of his blonde friend. “Check on him?” The American requested weakly and Heero nodded taking two steps to cross the room and stand beside the other bed and it’s occupant. 

Quatre’s blonde hair was still plastered against his forehead, damp with sweat. He was pale except for the red flush across his cheeks. He looked like death warmed up. Peeling his eyes away from Quatre’s physical form, Heero turned to face the machines. The fever was down from earlier, but not by much. It was still far too high to bring Heero any comfort, or Duo, for that matter. 

“I’ll get the doctor.” Heero said abruptly, suddenly needing an excuse to leave the room. Later he might be unable to forgive himself for such cowardliness, but in the moment he simply could not stay. 

Doctor Norton wasn’t far away, Heero grunted something along the lines of, “Maxwell is awake.” Before he stalked down the hallway in the opposite direction of the infirmary. Several of his security staff eyed him curiously as he made his way to his assigned rooms. He didn’t care what they thought, but for some reason he could guess. He felt their curiosity and concern. They were surprised, he realized as he closed the door. They thought he would never leave his two friends alone, but he had. 

On some level Heero knew he was on the verge of a breakdown. Too much had happened recently and he hadn’t allowed himself to deal with any of it. Quatre’s death was a shock that he’d never quite accepted, even when he was standing in the crowd at Quatre’s funeral. 

Quatre’s message to him had been, well, disturbing at best. Even as Heero stood in his room, just beyond his locked door, he could feel the cascade of emotions overwhelming him. His hands slipped up to his ears as he hit the ground, landing hard on his knees. Heero’s breath hitched as he struggled to push away the emotions that threatened to drown him. 

He wasn’t built to deal with so many emotions. Heero had been trained not to feel anything at all. 

A knock sounded in the distance, but Heero felt frozen, unable to react. 

Was this how Quatre felt all of the time? Was he constantly stabbed with so many feelings he could rarely pick out which ones belonged to himself? 

A hand gripped his shoulder and Heero vaguely wondered how someone had managed to open his door. His unasked question was answered when he felt the answer in the air – someone’s foot hurt – someone had kicked the door in. 

Even in the chaos of Heero’s mind he made a small note to convince Relena to upgrade the mansions doors, they needed something stronger, thicker. 

“Heero!” 

Relena was with him, he realized. He’d heard her voice, but he felt her presence so strongly that her panic became his own. 

“Do something!” Someone shouted and there was a sharp prick on his arm. A sedative, Heero realized. For once Heero didn’t attempt to struggle or fight the pull of sleep, he welcomed it with open arms.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boom. It's a two updates kind of weekend!

Duo had adjusted his bed so that he was sitting upright when they rushed Heero into the medical room. Not for the first time since he’d woken up Duo wondered what the hell was going on. Everything around him seemed more like a nightmare than reality. Quatre was dying, which was apparently Duo’s fault, and Heero – now Heero was down for the count. 

They rushed Heero into another room, Relena followed them right up to the door, but the kind doctor had simply told her to wait outside before he disappeared after Heero. 

“What happened?” Duo asked with wide eyes. 

Relena startled, as if she had forgotten that she wasn’t alone in the room. Her wide eyes turned to face Duo and they softened. 

“Oh, Duo, you are awake.” She sighed in relief, grateful that something had turned out alright. “Heero, he, he had some sort of fit.” She shivered and glanced back towards the door. “He was screaming.” 

“Screaming?” Duo paled considerably, a shocking feet given how pale he already was. Heero screaming was not a normal thing. Sure Heero had looked a little strange when he all but ran from the room, but Duo had figured he needed a long, nice, silent, Heero-like break – one that involved quiet-time and brooding. Not screaming and some kind of mental breakdown. 

“It was – awful.” Relena exhaled and turned back to face him. “Oh, Duo, I’m sorry, how are you feeling?” 

“Like the world is ending and my body is half asleep.” Duo answered. “How did any of this happen? How did we let it get this far?” 

“No one saw any of this coming.” Relena told him. “It’s no ones fault, Duo. Not yours, not Heero’s, not Quatre’s.” 

“I want to kill his sisters.” Duo breathed. “Is that wrong? I don’t know which of them are to blame for this, so I want to wipe them all out of existence.” 

“I’d like to hurt them as well.” Relena admitted with a small, knowing smile. “But would Quatre forgive us for that?”

“Quatre doesn’t even remember them.” Duo pointed out. 

“We don’t know if his memory loss will last forever or only for a short while.” 

“True.” Duo huffed. “I’m worried, Relena. When Heero passed out the first time, back in the park, he woke up crying. Like, rivers of tears – it was disturbing.”

“What do you mean?” Relena’s eyes widened. Like Duo, she had rarely witnessed Heero cry about anything. 

“You know about Quatre, right? Heero must have told you.” Duo waited until she nodded. “When Quatre reached out to him it effected Heero strongly. I can’t describe it, but I thought he was having some sort of breakdown. The second time Quatre connected with him Heero fell into a two day a coma. What I’m saying, Relena, is that maybe the connection is still effecting Heero. What if Quatre is still feeding Heero emotions?”

“How?” Relena questioned as she cast a worry glance towards Quatre’s bed. “He’s unconscious.” 

“We don’t know how powerful his abilities are.” Duo pointed out cautiously. “I don’t even think that Quatre knows how powerful he could be. He spent most of his life trying to suppress it.” 

“But there’s no real way of knowing?” Relena breathed. “We’re just guessing.” 

“Yes.” Duo agreed. “We don’t know anything. At all. Damn it! This is so frustrating.” 

“I couldn’t agree more.” Relena agreed as she refocused on the double doors that held Heero and the doctor. 

It felt like hours had ticked by, but Duo knew in reality it had only been a handful of minutes. The doc made an appearance and Duo held his breath in anticipation. 

“He’s resting now.” The doctor said carefully. “We ran a few tests, but they’ve all come back normally. He’s a little dehydrated and could gain a few pounds, but other than that there is no physical reason for his, um, outburst earlier. The best I can come up with is fatigue and stress caused the, uh, episode.” 

“Episode.” Duo echoed and allowed the doc to start taking his vitals. 

“He’s going to sleep it off and we’ll ask him more about it when he’s awake.” The doctor said with a shrug of a shoulder. “You are looking much better, however. Your fever broke, let’s take a look at your wound, shall we?” 

Duo watched as the doctor undid the gauze around his chest and winced a little at the angry wound the bullet had left behind. 

“Much better.” The doctor muttered and redressed the wound. “You’re in the clear, I believe. Now let’s check on your other friend.” The solemn look the doctor’s face made before he turned towards Quatre told Duo that he didn’t expect much improvement of the blonde, the idea of Quatre being so sick and vulnerable made Duo’s insides hurt more than the bullet had. 

“Well, would you look at that?” The doc said in aw, “His fever has dropped.” 

“Really?” Relena asked, daring to move closer to Quatre. She had kept a safe distance since Duo had suggested the blonde wasn’t fully able to control his abilities. Duo couldn’t blame her for being slightly scared of Quatre’s undefined gifts. There was no real way to predict what Quatre could be capable of. 

“Yes,” The doc grinned back at them. “Perhaps your road to recovery has finally synced up with his.”

“What do you mean?” Duo asked, but he already knew. Heero had tried to explain as much. Quatre had connected with him when he had been wounded. That was why Quatre was sick in the first place. “Never mind. Stupid question.” 

It was odd though. It seemed like Quatre and Heero’s connection was far stronger than their one-way connection. Duo couldn’t feel anything that Quatre was feeling but for whatever reason Heero could feel Quatre. 

Duo wanted to know why, but there would always be a chance that they’d never understand. Quatre rarely talked about his ability. He didn’t hide it from his fellow Gundam pilots, but he didn’t go around chatting about it with strangers. It was probably a safe way to go. Those who showed such abilities tended to vanish. 

Back on his colony Duo remembered going to school with a girl who could predict the future. She would give people a heads up if something bad was about to happen, to soften the blow or to help them try and change it. She had even predicted that he would be approached by a man who would give him great power just before she disappeared. No one heard from her again. Duo hadn’t thought about her in years. Vaguely he wondered what had happened to her. 

If he could protect Quatre from that girl’s fate, he would, Duo realized. Freaked out or not, Quatre was still his friend. 

“Do you think he’ll wake up soon?” Duo asked after a long, drawn out moment of the doctor checking Quatre over. 

“Only if I reduce the sedatives.” The doctor said carefully. “I’m not sure that would be wise at this point. Until Mr. Yuy has recovered, I think it’s best we keep Mr. Winner under.” 

That sounded, odd, Duo thought as he narrowed his eyes. “Why?” 

“For his safety, of course.” The doctor told them. “He is still vulnerable, his mental shields are clearly not working the way they should. It’s best if we keep him under until we can come up with a plan to help him maintain control. If he can’t we might all be in trouble, wouldn’t you agree?” 

Somewhere in the back of Duo’s mind he had a sliver of doubt. Distantly, Duo recognized that this man was playing on their fear to manipulate them into agreeing with his plan. Shamefully, Duo ignored that splinter of concern and nodded. Yes, keeping Quatre under was the best option. 

For everyone.

“Okay.” Duo agreed. “We’ll keep him under.”


	12. Chapter 12

When Heero finally came out from under sedation everything had already gone to hell. 

Quatre was gone. 

Heero could feel it. 

“What happened?” He heard someone asking. Judging by the tone of the voice the situation wasn’t a good one. 

“We’re not sure.” Relena’s voice broke through the haze next. 

“He’s gone?” Duo asked. It was Duo she was talking too. 

“Yes.” 

“Relena?” He asked thickly as he turned his head towards her voice. 

“Crap, of course he wakes up now.” Duo complained, Relena’s face appeared in front of Heero as Duo continued. “Heero, that doctor played us! He took Quatre once he had us both knocked out.” 

“He knocked out the guards with some sort of gas.” Relena continued the explanation with sad eyes. “We’re trying to figure out his plan, but it looks like he took Quatre because he was interested in his empathic abilities.” 

“Doctor Norton,” Heero growled. He looked directly at Relena and tried very hard not to blame her. “He was vetted.” 

“He got his hand on a New Type.” Duo pointed out bitterly. “There are some temptations worth sacrificing everything for. I was an idiot. Damn it, I should have never agreed.” 

“Agreed?” Heero snapped his attention to Duo. “To what.” 

Duo clamed up quickly and Relena rushed to his aid without moving a muscle. “We both agreed. Heero.” She turned to Heero. “He convinced us that Quatre might be dangerous. I – I should have known better. Doctor Norton kept him sedated and he slipped both Duo and you a sedative as well. We were unprepared for such a violation of trust.”

Heero’s mind sprung to life as he stared at his two friends. He felt betrayed. Bitterly so, but there was no changing the mistakes made, they could only right the wrong by locating Quatre and getting him back. 

“We need to act fast.” Heero said as he flung the blanket laid over him aside and swung his legs to let his feet settle on the ground. He stood unsteadily but refused to falter as he stormed towards the door of the medical room. Relena was at his side, slipping his arm over her shoulders in an effort to keep him upright. 

Although Heero’s first instinct was to push her away, he stiffly accepted the help and pointedly ignored Duo’s calls after them. He worried, very briefly, that Duo would do something stupid like try and follow them, but it didn’t seem like Duo was up to making another mistake, thankfully as there was no sound of a crash to indicate that the man had fallen. 

Relena half carried him to the security room. Five men were already there trying to piece together what had happened and where Doctor Norton had been trying to go. 

“Sir.” One of his officers said nervously as Heero staggered into the room. “We are still in the process of investigating – ”

“Get out of my way.” Heero barked. The man looked slightly hurt more than intimidated. Heero added the man’s feelings to the list of those he was causing pain and moved to sit in front of one of the main computers. The vid screen had already been cued up to the moment where Doctor Norton made his move. 

“How are the men he knocked out doing?” Relena asked as Heero’s fingers flew over the keyboard. He didn’t need to watch the footage, he’d already learned that Quatre was no longer in the supposed safety of the mansion. 

“They are recovering as quickly as can be expected, ma’am.” The first soldier reported quickly. Obviously he believed that Relena blamed their security for the recent events as well, but Heero wasn’t in the mood to correct them.

It took Heero another minute to be able to hack into Doctor Norton’s phone. The man clearly wasn’t a technologically savvy man because he hadn’t ditched the personal phone that Relena had issued him when he first started to work for her. Heero had all of their staff’s phones bugged with a tracking device. 

Amateur. 

At least it was working in their favor. 

“I’ve got him.” Heero announced and wished for the first time in a long time that he had his Gundam. His Gundam would scare the piss out of the traitorous doctor. “I’m taking my bike. Make sure Duo doesn’t do anything stupid.” He told Relena without looking at her. He stood, feeling once again steady enough to set out on his new mission. His piece said, Heero ran from the room towards the garage. 

Heero knew exactly where the keys were located. He grabbed the one that belonged to the bike he favored and ignored the rack of helmets. Within minutes he was speeding down the gravel covered road after his target. A gun was tucked into his belt. Thankfully the doctor hadn’t gotten around to shedding him of his clothes after he – Heero frowned, that memory would have to be dealt with at another time. 

Within the hour he had caught up to the van that held Quatre hostage. Heero considered for a moment how he would stop the van without hurting Quatre, but the van suddenly veered off the road and plowed into a small orchard. 

Slamming on the brakes Heero nearly flipped over the handlebars of his skidding bike and had to bail last minute in order to avoid joining the bike in a heap on the side of the road. He hit his knee wrong, the same knee that he had dislocated during the war. It hurt, but Heero ignored it as he was trained to do. He limped towards the van, now tangled up in the trees. Smoke billowed from the front of the van, but Heero knew Quatre would be in the back.

He pushed open the back hatch and took in the sight before him. Doctor Norton was clearly dead, although Heero couldn’t see what the cause had been from his current position. Heero climbed into the back of the vehicle to check on Quatre, still unconscious but obviously a little worse for wear after the crash. He had been strapped to a gurney and the gurney had flipped during the impact. There was some glass imbedded in the blonde’s arm and a few shallow cuts on his face. 

Heero undid the straps after double-checking to make sure Quatre was still alive. He was, the sedation had probably helped prevent any bones from breaking during the crash. None of his newly acquired injuries seemed life threatening.

Once Quatre was free and safely in Heero’s arms he moved to look at the late doctor. There was no real reason for the doctor to have crashed the van. It didn’t make sense – until Heero spotted the perfect, round hole in the center of the doctor’s forehead. 

He had been shot. 

“Damn it.” Heero cursed and moved with Quatre towards the back hatch of the van. 

“Stop right there.” A low voice sounded along with several clicks of guns being raised and ready to fire. Heero had his own gun drawn and pointed towards the man who had spoken, but he knew, even with his enhanced abilities, that he was out gunned and outnumbered. 

“Who are you?” Heero demanded without lowering his gun.

“We work for a man who wants his property back.” The spokesperson of the group explained with a smirk on his face. “He says his bed seems a little colder without his pet there to warm it.” 

Heero’s gut twisted at the visual the man was painting. He hadn’t considered that during his captivity Quatre had been – 

“Slavery is something both Earth and the Colonies agree is old fashioned and unjust. There are at least twenty different laws you’re breaking by insinuating that this man is someone else’s property.” Heero told the ringleader coolly. “Walk away now and maybe you won’t follow your master into a jail cell.” 

The main laughed and shifted his aim towards Quatre’s head. “Our boss wants him dead or alive, it’s your choice. You shoot me, I shoot him and we both lose. Or, you come with us willingly and maybe our boss will figure out how you can be of use to him.” 

Heero gripped his gun tighter, but he knew that the man wasn’t bluffing. How Heero knew that for certain was something he was trying not to dwell on. For Quatre’s sake he lowered his weapon and allowed them to take it away from him. 

“We’ll even let you carry the little burden.” The leader said cruelly. “Walk with us.” Two men were in front and four walked behind Heero creating a tight circle. He felt more than saw the guns still aimed at him and Quatre. They weren’t taking any chances. 

Quatre weighed almost nothing in his arms, but the added ‘nothing’ aggravated Heero’s injured knee enough that Heero knew he wasn’t getting them out of this mess – at least not in the near future. Not alone. 

For a moment Heero considered whether or not Duo would show up for a daring rescue, but frowned, Duo was in no condition to get out of bed, let alone mount a rescue. No, they were on their own. 

Maybe Heero sound have called in Trowa and Wufei. 

__

The van had restraints built into the sides of the van. It took Heero a moment to realize it was a prisoner van. With a frown he allowed himself to be separated from Quatre and for his arms to be shackled in the restraints. They left his legs free. Foolish, but Heero supposed there wasn’t much he could accomplish by killing one or two of them. It would likely either end in his death or Quatre’s or both. That risk was unacceptable. 

Quatre was manhandled into a similar position, though unconscious, across from Heero. They weren’t left alone, which Heero gave their captures some credit for. They were smart, regrettably. It might be difficult to escape, but Heero could be patient when necessary. 

The ride was long and Heero spent most of his time trying to come up with a survivable means of escape. Typically that was Quatre’s wheelhouse. Quatre was the man with the plan. The guy who made everything work out in the end. Heero’s plans tended to lean towards suicidal, which was counterproductive in this situation. 

Heero wished Quatre were his Quatre currently. It would make getting out of this situation a whole hell of a lot easier. It would also help if Quatre were awake, not that they could really plan anything with thug-number-one looming with them. 

The van finally screeched to a halt. They were well away from the mansion, but Heero had faith that Duo and Relena would pick up the trail sooner or later. It wasn’t as if the men had bothered covering up the scene of the crime. Reckless, but useful. 

“Show time.” Thug one said as the back hatch of the van opened revealing the man who had been in the clinic the night Heero and Duo had rescued Quatre. Roman Menera. The guy had a smug look on his face as he took in first Heero and then let his eyes trail across Quatre’s still unconscious form. 

“I must say I never did consider that you would come for him.” Menera started with a sly grin. “He said you would, but I didn’t believe him. A mistake I won’t make twice, I assure you.” 

“If you’re going to kill me, I’d rather we skip the evil monolog.” Heero said boldly. He already knew this man had something worse than death planned for him, Heero was fishing to figure out what that plan might be. 

The man chuckled lightly and snapped his fingers. Two men entered the van and started to undo Quatre’s wrist restraints. Heero continued to watch Menera even though he longed to make sure that Quatre was okay. 

“I see no real harm in telling you my little plan.” Menera smirked. “I’m going to use you to break him. The knowledge of his sisters betrayal upset him, but not as much as I had hoped. You, however, are something special to him. I assume that respect goes both ways.” 

“When I get free I will kill you.” Heero threatened. 

“I think not.” Menera grinned sharply. A flash of white teeth and aggression. “You won’t have much choice in the matter. When I’m done with you I will have a new bodyguard and my bed warmer will be more than willing to spread his legs for me. Why settle for one former Gundam Pilot when you can have two?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, this is the last chapter of this story....although it might become a series if inspiration strikes again. I wrote this story rather fast, although I edit and post slow...sorry about that. ^^ Enjoy!

Heero was well restrained to the med table when they finally turned their attention away from Quatre and focused on him. There was an IV in the back of his hand. Heero knew he should be worried about the poison they were pumping into his system, but he felt detached. 

It was probably the drugs. 

“How are you feeling?” Menera’s voice drifted to his ears. The sound echoed and the words felt warped in Heero’s head. Immediately his hands jerked in their metal restraints. “Still feisty, I see.” Fingers brushed gently down the side of Heero’s face and he felt another rush of exhaustion weighing down on his body. “Don’t worry, we’ll put that spirit to good use.” 

Heero wanted to struggle, but he couldn’t. All he could do is watch as Menera waved the syringe in front of his eyes. 

“You know what this does, correct?” Menera taunted. “It will erase you from your own body. All your memories, everything that makes you, you will be gone. All that will remain is the perfect soldier. Do you feel it already? Do you feel everything slipping away from you?” 

A gunshot echoed throughout the space. Both men jumped. Heero was shocked when a spot of red blossomed on Menera’s chest and started to spread. The man’s eyes were wide with shock as his knees folded underneath him. Quatre was revealed just behind the madman, smoking gun in hand. 

“Quatre – ” Heero managed to form the word around his thick, uncooperative tongue. 

Quatre’s sea blue eyes were focused on the man kneeling beside Heero’s bedside. The gun fired three more times, until Menera’s body was still on the ground. 

A rush of foreign emotion pushed its way into Heero’s heart and mind. Quatre had regained his senses enough to realize what kind of danger they were in. He had managed to play innocent and afraid, enough that the guards hadn’t bothered to restrain him properly. He’d over powered them the second he had an opening and taken their weapons. 

Now he had taken his revenge. 

Roman Menera, Quatre’s own personal tormenter, was dead. Murdered by Quatre’s own hand. 

Probably the most disturbing thing about what Heero felt was the lack of remorse from Quatre. 

Silently Quatre lowered the gun and stepped over the bloody body to carefully pull the IV port from Heero’s vein. He looked at Heero, but avoided making eye contact and sighed as he focused on freeing Heero from the metal cuffs. 

Once Heero was free, Quatre helped him off the table and they both stepped over the mangled remains of Menera before heading towards the door. 

“Quatre.” Heero whispered again, but the look Quatre gave him made Heero want to give Quatre the space he was requesting. The freedom to wait to talk about what had happened, what was happening, at a different time. “Okay.” He agreed and did his best to be useful as they made their way through the facility. 

The guards were easy enough to pick off. A grunt told Heero that Quatre had been hit at least once during the exchanges of bullets, but Heero was just out of it enough not to be able to see to the damage. 

Quatre commandeered a vehicle when they found the garage area. Once they had the vehicle the rest of their escape was comically easy. 

Fifteen minutes later Heero finally was coming out of the fog the drugs had left him in. “Quatre.” He said, earning himself a sideways look from the silent blonde. “How much do you remember?” 

Quatre opened his mouth to speak but a squeak came out. Shit, they must have re-administered the vocal paralytic. Quatre cleared his throat and managed to form actual words, throwing Heero’s theory out the window. “Some things.” He croaked painfully. “Enough.” 

“The war?” Heero guessed.

Instead of a verbal answer, Quatre just nodded, his sharp eyes focused on the road. It was probably for the best, Heero thought, Quatre’s voice sounded painfully strained. 

“Quatre, I can feel you.” Heero answered the question Quatre had asked so long ago. Quatre took his eyes off the road then and glanced at him longer than before. “I still feel you.” 

Quatre glanced at the road again but shuddered visibly. 

“Where do you want to go, Quatre?” Heero asked tiredly, his eyes were already closing. “We could go anywhere.” He whispered as he fell away, back into the darkness.

When he woke next the vehicle was at a stand still. The driver’s door was wide open and there was the sound of waves crashing against a nearby shore. Heero’s eyes widened as he forced himself awake. His body tensed, no longer heavy with fatigue. He fumbled to sit up and took in the almost too-beautiful scene before him. The vehicle sat in the middle of an opening of trees that spilled out onto a sandy-shored paradise. 

Quatre, still dressed in that stupid teal shirt that Duo had bought him, sat in the sand looking out over the rippling waves. 

On half-asleep legs Heero opened his car door and stumbled out to sit next to the blonde. 

“Heero.” Quatre’s voice sounded stronger and far less painful than before. “I’m sorry I hurt you.” 

Heero was slightly surprised that Quatre was aware that he had hurt him. Of course, Heero swallowed thickly as he eyed his blond companion, Quatre might not know about the second incident. Without prodding, Heero decided he didn’t need clarification, the answer would still be the same. 

“You didn’t do it on purpose.” Heero pointed out. “You were desperate, Quatre, I’m just grateful your plan worked.” 

“I feel out of control.” Quatre admitted. “I don’t know if I can control it anymore.” 

“Your empathy?” Heero asked, already knowing that was the answer. “We can build your walls back up. Together.” 

Quatre offered a shy smile. “I knew you’d come for me. I mean, I had my doubts for a little while, but a soon as I reached out to you I knew you’d save me.” 

“You saved yourself.” Heero pointed out. “You saved me too.” The memory of Menera’s threats were still fresh in Heero’s mind. He wondered what would have happened if Quatre had been just a few seconds slower to get free. Now that the sedatives were out of his system Heero realized how close he’d come to not existing. 

“He found me on the ground the second time I managed to contact you.” Quatre explained. “He thought I was trying to kill myself.” The noise Quatre made was self-depreciating, high-pitched and pained. “I had tried it before, just after the first time he, well.” The thought was abruptly cut off and the implications made Heero feel sick. 

“I don’t remember much after that. Being tied down. Being too heavy to move. He tried to convince me I had been in some kind of accident. It was hard for me to focus and I didn’t understand the emotions at the time, but I knew he was lying to me. You rescued me only a little while later. Heero, even when I couldn’t remember who you were, I knew I could trust you.” 

Heero breathed. “He’s dead now, Quatre. We’re both safe.” 

“Are we?” Quatre asked as he stared back over the water and watched as the sun started to sink into its watery grave. “My sisters sold me to – to that monster. My own family. The universe thinks I’m dead and there are a lot of people who would prefer it if I stayed that way.” 

“Are you asking me for advice?” Heero asked reluctantly. He honestly didn’t have any advice to give. All Heero wanted was for Quatre to be safe and happy again. Heero missed Quatre’s smile…

“No.” Quatre sighed. “I’ve already asked too much from you, Heero. I’m sorry.” 

“Quatre, I’ll always help you if I can.” Heero told his friend honestly. 

“I don’t know what to do.” Quatre admitted brokenly. “I don’t know where to go now.” 

Heero didn’t think before he offered his advice. “Stay with Relena and me. We can protect you, insane doctor’s aside. You’ll have time to figure things out. You don’t need to make any choices now.” 

They fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the sun set into the ocean together. 

“Thank you.” Quatre said finally. “I think I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be able to make my own choices. He took that away from me, even if I denied it at the time. I fought him any way I could, but it never seemed to be enough. Then after everything that happened, I killed him, Heero.” 

“A justified killing,” Heero pointed out. “You saved us both by pulling the trigger.” 

“I could have wounded him.” Quatre pointed out. “I was so angry. I watched him as he taunted you and I couldn’t stand it any longer. I don’t regret killing him. I think it’s the first time in my entire life that I felt nothing as I pulled the trigger. Even when Zero had control over me I never felt so cold and murderous. At least then I thought I was doing something for the greater good. When I was freed from Zero’s control, I felt remorse. With him, when I pulled the trigger again and again the only thing I felt was relief. I felt vindicated. Free. What does that make me?” 

“Human.” Heero answered confidently. “We’re only human, Quatre. You saved me, I’m not going to look down on you for that. I’m grateful. I was afraid. Helpless. If you hadn’t killed him I wouldn’t be here. We’d both be mindless drones for that madman.” 

“I’m glad I saved you.” Quatre nodded. “I’m glad he’s dead. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I do know that I’d rather not face it alone. I’d be honored to stay with you, and Relena, as long as you’ll have me – until I can figure out my next move.” 

“I’ll make the arrangements.” Heero nodded. “We’ll need a new doctor. Maybe Sally would be up for a semi-vacation. At least we know we can trust her.” 

“What’s this about a doctor? You keep mentioning it.” Quatre frowned. “I thought you were talking about that man back at the facility, but I don’t think that’s right now.” 

Heero blinked and then realized that Quatre had been unconscious during the entire fiasco at Relena’s mansion. “The doctor that Relena had on staff tried to kidnap you.” 

“Me? Why?” Quatre blinked in surprise. 

“You have to understand, you were both unconscious, Duo had been shot and you were experiencing what he was experiencing.” 

“I remember the pain.” Quatre said with an eerie, far away sounding voice. “It was overwhelming – it wasn’t just Duo, suddenly it was everyone around me.” 

“Quatre.” Heero snapped loud enough to jar Quatre out of his sudden trance. “If you need to focus on someone, you can focus on me.” 

“Yes.” Quatre nodded with a slight shiver. “I’ll need to get these emotions under control, sooner rather than later.” 

“Agreed.” Heero nodded and tried not to wince. He could still feel Quatre, maybe better than he could feel himself most days. “I’ll help you.” 

Quatre closed his eyes and nodded once. “I’m grateful.” 

“The doctor was interested in your ability.” Heero continued bluntly. “I had to tell him my theory, that you were anchored to Duo somehow, feeling what he was feeling with your empathy.” 

Slowly Quatre’s eyes opened and looked at Heero, not with betrayal but understanding. “He wanted me for my abilities.” 

“That’s what we think. He was shot and killed when he tried to escape with you.” Heero sighed in frustration. “I thought, at the time, that he’d lost control of the van when he saw I was in pursuit. I wasn’t paying attention. If I had cleared the area maybe we wouldn’t have been captured.” 

With a soft expression Quatre chuckled. “If you want to play the ‘what if’ game, I guarantee I’d win. I’ve had a lot of time to simply think and drown in regret.” 

“You saw the best in those around you.” Heero sighed. “They were your family, Quatre. You wanted to see the good in them.” 

Silence fell over them as they stared out into the changing colors of the sunset. The sky was mostly orange now, alight with fire. 

Quatre’s eyes widened suddenly. “Duo! Is he – ?”

Heero chuckled. “He’s probably pissed that we got ourselves into trouble again, but he’ll be happy once we get back to the mansion.” Heero answered easily. “When I left him, he was feeling guilty about allowing the doctor take you. Both Duo and Relena feel responsible. Apparently the doctor convinced them that you were too dangerous to be allowed to wake up until they had a plan to subdue your ability.” 

“What?” Quatre asked, losing what little color he had left in his cheeks. 

“They aren’t really afraid of you.” Heero tried to explain. “They don’t understand how your ability works and the unknown is always a little frightening.” Heero knew giving Quatre the heads up about his friends new-found fear would be beneficial in the end, but it still sucked to be the one dishing out the bad news. Quatre would have known instantly that Duo and Relena’s fear stemmed from his empathy. 

It was going to be hard enough for Quatre to readapt to life outside of captivity without having to deal with his friends sudden mistrust, but things like that couldn’t be easily fixed. In time Duo and Relena would understand that Quatre was still the same guy they had always known. 

“If you show them there’s nothing to be afraid of, it will be fine.” Heero encouraged quietly. 

“Why do they think I need to be feared?” Quatre asked. Duo had known about his ability, hadn’t he? It had never bothered him before. 

Heero sensed Quatre’s confusion and decided to reveal another piece of the puzzle that he had hoped to keep hidden. “Apparently our one way connection isn’t exactly one way anymore.” 

“What?” Quatre asked again. It was slightly adorable how innocent he made the word sound. 

“I can feel you, Quatre.” Heero tried to explain. “You know as well as anyone that I shouldn’t be able to do that. I’m blind when it comes to other people’s feelings, but now I can feel you.” 

“Are you saying you have empathic abilities as well?” Quatre blinked. 

“No, I’m saying our connection has allowed you to syphon some of your ability to me when it gets to be too much for you to handle.” Heero shrugged, “of course that’s mostly a guess. Still, it makes sense. I think once you manage to rebuild your walls it won’t be a problem.”

“I – you don’t just feel me, do you?” Quatre blinked back at Heero in aw and wonder. Like he’d never even considered that someone might ever feel what he feels. “You feel others, don’t you?” 

Heero thought about lying, but deep down knew that Quatre would likely know either way. No use lying to someone who knows the truth. “Yes. Not as strongly as I suspect you do, but I’ve had an interesting insight to the people around me the last few days.” Heero shivered a little. “I think it got too much for me at one point, but I haven’t felt that way since then.” 

“I’ve caused so much trouble.” Quatre whispered quietly. “I need to apologize again, I’m so sorry Heero.” 

“Quatre, I know you can feel my emotions so please pay attention,” Heero sighed and stood, brushing the sand off of his clothing. His knee hurt, but his heart felt light. His Quatre was alive again. His Quatre was by his side again and nothing could stop them. Not war, not peace, not twenty-eight demented siblings. “When I thought you had died I nearly died with you. When you contacted me my heart started to beat again. Do you feel it? I feel joy, Quatre. You are alive and right now, that’s all that matters. Please don’t apologize, because honestly, you being alive is enough.” 

“Heero.” Quatre whispered as he looked up. He closed his eyes and dropped his chin a little in acknowledgement. “I feel it – I feel you.” 

The wind kicked up a little, rustling the leaves in the trees just up the sandy incline as Heero offered Quatre a hand up. 

With trusting eyes Quatre looked up at Heero again and took his helping hand. Together they limped back towards their stolen vehicle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around with me. Hopefully the whump and adventure kept your interest!


End file.
